AZO - Stocks Static Before Fed Meeting

Stock futures traded near flat on Tuesday as Wall Street readied for the start of the Federal Reserve's two-day September policy meeting.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials struggled to gains of 24 points, or 0.1%, to 34,959.

Futures for the S&P 500 gained 3.75 points, or 0.1%, at 4,505.25.

Futures for the NASDAQ acquired 6.5 points to 15,421.

The Fed is not expected to raise rates this week, with traders pricing in a 99% probability that the central bank skips a hike. Traders are putting just a 29% chance of a hike in November as of early Tuesday.

Six of the 11 major S&P sectors finished Monday's session positive, led by energy, with a 0.7% gain. Consumer discretionary was the worst-performing sector, falling about 1%.

Wall Street will parse through a light batch of economic data Tuesday, with preliminary building permits for August and housing starts due out before the bell. AutoZone is slated to report earnings before the bell.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 flopped 0.9% Tuesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng bucked the Asian trend and gained 0.4%

Oil prices rumbled higher $1.07 to $92.55 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices prospered $4.50 to $1,957.90.