UKX FTSE 100 Index

By Barbara Kollmeyer and Anora Mahmudova, MarketWatch

Airlines watched as blizzard bears down on East Coast

U.S. stock futures added to modest losses and pointed to a cautious trading session on Tuesday after another sharp drop in oil prices. Investors were also reluctant to make significant bets ahead of the start of the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

Meanwhile, a blizzard bearing down on New York City threatened to cut into trading volumes, with thousands of flights already canceled across parts of the East Coast and a state of emergency declared (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-york-city-under-state-of-emergency-with-life-threatening-blizzard-set-to-hit-2017-03-14) for the city itself.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 55 points to 20,790, while S&P 500 futures lost 7.5 points to 2,364. Nasdaq-100 fell 13 points to 5,386.

"U.S. markets could well feel the effect of the blizzard that has descended on New York in the past few hours. We could be in for a volume-light session, compounding the probability of another snooze-fest for US markets ahead of tomorrow's Fed decision," Chris Beauchamp, IG market analyst, told clients in a note Tuesday.

Wall Street stocks closed mostly higher on Monday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wall-street-stocks-set-for-cautious-start-as-fed-meeting-looms-2017-03-13), but moves were limited as investors took to the sidelines ahead of the coming Federal Reserve decision. The S&P 500 index added less than a point to 2,373.47, while the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.2% to 5,875.78.

The exception was the Dow industrials , which fell 0.1% to 20,881.48.

The National Federation of Independent Business reported early Tuesday that small-business owners' optimism dipped (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/small-business-sentiment-stays-strong-nfib-says-but-slips-in-february-2017-03-14) in February, but stayed close to long-term highs. Separately, producer prices for February jumped by 0.3%, above consensus expectations of 0.1%, bringing the year-over-year wholesale inflation to 2.2%.

The main event, the FOMC meeting, will begin later. The market sees an 93% probability that the Fed will vote for an interest-rate increase, according to data from the CME Group (http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/interest-rates/countdown-to-fomc.html).

The U.S. central bank's statement and new economic projections won't be released until 2 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, followed by a news conference hosted by Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen. The FOMC's policy statement will be examined for signals about the timing and pace of future interest-rate hikes.

Tuesday's blizzard isn't expected to delay the release of the Fed's decision, as a similar storm didn't stop the central bank from meeting in early 2016 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/blizzard-likely-wont-delay-fed-from-raising-rates-2017-03-13).

Stocks to watch: Energy shares took a hit, following a drop in oil prices. Shares of Transocean Lrd.(RIG) ell 2% premarket. Marathon Oil Corp(MRO) was down more than 1%. The U.S. Oil Fund ETF (USO) on track to open at 3 1/2-month low, in danger of 7th-straight loss

Shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.(VRX.T) tumbled 12% premarket after Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management said it has sold its 10% stake (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bill-ackman-sells-valeant-stake-to-step-down-from-board-2017-03-13) in the company amid mounting losses. Ackman himself plans to step down from the board.

Over 5,000 flights have been impacted by blizzard conditions on the East Coast (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/over-5000-flights-impacted-by-blizzard-conditions-in-new-york-boston-washington-dc-2017-03-14). American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL), United Airlines (UAL) and Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) have all issued travel alerts and began waiving rebooking fees for flights.

Yahoo Inc.(YHOO) released details of a $23 million golden parachute (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/yahoos-marissa-mayer-to-get-23-million-severance-package-2017-03-13) for the planned exit of CEO Marissa Mayer after the company sells its core assets to Verizon (VZ).

Shares of automation software group Synopsys Inc.(SNPS) could grab attention after news the company will enter the S&P 500 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/synopsys-to-be-added-to-sp-500-2017-03-13) after the open of trade on Thursday.

Other markets: European stocks drifted lower (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-edge-back-after-4-session-win-streak-2017-03-14), outside of a small gain for the FTSE 100 , which benefited from a sharp drop in the British pound.

The pound tapped its lowest levels against the dollar since earlier this year-- (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uk-pound-slides-to-lowest-in-weeks-after-lawmakers-clear-a-path-for-brexit-2017-03-14)trading around $1.2129 after British lawmakers on Monday passed a law that will allow the Brexit process to begin. The pound also tumbled against the yen and the euro .

Oil prices rose moderately, while gold prices were flat.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 14, 2017 09:24 ET (13:24 GMT)

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