US stocks expected to make slow progress as Federal Reserve policy meeting news eyed

7.35am: Cautious start expected US stock markets are seen opening cautiously higher on Wednesday, as investors await the outcome of the latest Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting. The Dow Jones Industrials Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are currently forecast to rise by 0.5%, 0.6% and 0.7%, respectively. On Wednesday, the Dow closed just 2.27 points, or 0.01% higher at 27,995, while the broader S&P 500 index added 0.5%, and the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite gained 1.2% as the sector recovered after recent falls. After Fed head Jerome Powell revealed in a speech last month that the US central bank will be targeting average inflation of 2%, it is expected that he may add flesh to the monetary policy bones in the post-FOMC meeting commentary later. As the inflation target effectively will allow for inflation overshoot after a period of falling short, which it has already, market analyst Craig Erlam at Oanda said this had just given investors the go-ahead to expect an even more prolonged period of zero interest rates and perhaps even more stimulus. “While we're not anticipating more easing today, there is an expectation that the Fed will provide further colour on the changes announced last month,” Erlam said. "While not many market followers are naive enough to expect answers to all their policy questions today, he said the Fed “will need to display a dovish shift from the last meeting, reflecting the commitment to the new framework. And more detail may be demanded regarding what the change means in reality. I wonder whether the Fed is positioned to disappoint.” Gold prices, which have been holding below US$2,000 for the last month, are worth watching on the back of the Fed policy announcement, as well as the dollar, of course, Erlam added. “The dollar has been under pressure since March and has recent shown signs of pushing for a correction,” he said. "With both of these trades showing signs of fatigue, a failure by the Fed to meet or surpass expectations could get quite a reaction.” Five things to watch for on Wednesday: US retail sales data for August, due at 8.30am ET, with expectations for a reading of 1.0% compared with July’s figures of 1.2% Delivery firm FedEx Corp FDX.N jumped 10% in premarket trading after reporting a bigger-than-expected quarterly profit Apple Inc rose 0.7%,s it rolled out a new virtual fitness service and a bundle of all its subscriptions, Apple One Other tech-related stocks including Alphabet Inc, Amazon.com Inc, and Microsoft Corp also gained pre-market Two Boeing 737 MAX crashes that killed all 346 passengers and crew aboard were the “horrific culmination” of failures by the planemaker and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has concluded