Investing.com - U.S. stock markets were set to open at the lowest level since July on Wednesday morning, as investors waited for the outcome of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting, while monitoring increased uncertainty over the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
The blue-chip Dow futures shed 52 points, or 0.29%, by 6:55AM ET (10:55GMT), the S&P 500 futures declined 5 points, or 0.24%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures slumped 11 points, or 0.21%.
The S&P 500 closed at its lowest in nearly four months on Tuesday as investors were rattled by signs the U.S. presidential election race was tightening with less than a week to go before the November 8 vote.
Two separate polls showed Donald Trump moving slightly ahead of Hillary Clinton, as enthusiasm for the Democratic candidate has ebbed since the renewal of the FBI’s email investigation late last week.
The market is also keeping an eye on the outcome of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting later in the day. The U.S. central bank is not expected to raise interest rates, but could signal its intent to hike in December amid signs the economy is picking up steam.
Traders are currently pricing in a less than 10% chance of a rate hike today, according to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool. For December, odds stood at around 70%.
Besides the Fed, there is ADP payroll data at 8:15AM ET (12:15GMT), amid expectations for an increase of 165,000 jobs, about the same as nonfarm payrolls expected in Friday's October employment report.
Traders also awaited fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products. The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its weekly report on oil supplies at 10:30AM ET (14:30GMT), amid analyst expectations for an increase of 1.0 million barrels.
After markets closed Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute said that U.S. oil inventories increased by 9.3 million barrels in the week ended October 28.
U.S. crude was down 72 cents, or 1.55%, at a five-week low of $45.95 a barrel, while Brent slumped 70 cents, or 1.45%, to $47.44 a barrel.
On the earnings front, Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX), Clorox (NYSE:CLX), Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL), Kate Spade (NYSE:KATE) and New York Times (NYSE:NYT) report ahead of the bell.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFM), AIG (NYSE:AIG), Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN), Godaddy (NYSE:GDDY), Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), Fitbit (NYSE:FIT) and MetLife (NYSE:MET) are due after the closing bell.
Elsewhere, European and U.K. stock markets moved sharply lower on Wednesday, as the possibility of a victory for Donald Trump in next week’s U.S. presidential election started to spook global equity markets.
Earlier, Asian shares tumbled to seven-week lows as doubts over the U.S. election outcome intensified.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.3% at a two-week low of 97.47 early Wednesday.
The yen, which investors often buy during times of market uncertainty, gained ground, with USD/JPY down 0.65% at 103.47.
The safe-haven Swiss franc hit one-month highs, with USD/CHF down 0.44% to 0.9711.
Meanwhile, the Mexican peso weakened against the dollar, with USD/MXN up 0.8% to 19.36. The Mexican currency has been sensitive to developments in the election amid fears that a victory for Republican candidate Donald Trump could damage the country’s economy.
In another sign that investors are jittery, gold climbed to a fresh one-month high as demand for safe-haven assets was boosted amid growing jitters over the U.S. presidential elections.