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* Futures down: Dow 0.23%, S&P 0.17%, Nasdaq 0.25%
By Medha Singh
Sept 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged lower on
Tuesday as the focus shifted away from weekend bombings on Saudi
Arabia's main oil refinery to the Federal Reserve's two-day
policy meeting, where it is widely expected to cut interest
rates.
The Fed concludes its policy meeting on Wednesday, facing a
host of global growth worries including a prolonged U.S.-China
trade war into which the events in Saudi have thrown an oil
price shock.
Traders currently see a 65.8% chance of a quarter percentage
point cut from the Fed this week, down from 88.8% on Friday,
according to CME's FedWatch.
Since the Fed's last interest rate cut in July, U.S.
economic data has shown mixed signals about the health of the
economy. While strong retail sales and wage growth have
bolstered consumer confidence, the trade war with China
continues to weigh on manufacturing and business sentiment.
Deputy-level trade talks between the United States and China
are set to resume on Thursday, but any agreement between the two
sides is expected to be a superficial fix at this stage.
Tariff concessions from both countries last week helped the
benchmark S&P 500 to trade within 1% of its all-time high
touched in July.
At 7:09 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 61 points,
or 0.23%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 5 points, or 0.17%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 19.5 points, or 0.25%.
U.S. industrial production is expected to have risen 0.2% in
August after a fall of 0.2% in July. The data is due at 09:15
a.m. ET.
Among stocks, Home Depot Inc HD.N was the biggest decliner
among Dow-listed stocks in trading before the bell, dropping
1.2%, after Guggenheim downgraded the home improvement chain's
shares to "neutral" from "buy".
Shares of Corning Inc GLW.N tumbled 9.3% after the display
glass maker cut its current-quarter display volume forecast.
Kraft Heinz Co KHC.O slipped 2.5% after the packaged food
maker's second-largest investor, 3G Capital, sold over 25
million shares in open market at a discount.