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 The central bank is largely expected to again lower its benchmark fed funds rate, this time by a quarter point to 2 percent. However, many economists believe policymakers will signal their intention to put rates on hold in a bid to fight inflation.
Ahead of the 2:15 p.m. EDT Fed decision, investors will also digest a series of economic reports. The Commerce Department is expected to report that the U.S. economy grew at an anemic annual rate of 0.3 percent in the first quarter, held back by the ongoing housing slump and declines in consumer and business spending.
In addition, the Chicago purchasing managers' index is expected to show more business contraction in the Midwest during April.
Investors also pored over a mix of earnings reports from companies including General Motors Corp., International Paper Co., SAP AG, Kraft Foods Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co. all released results for the January-March quarter.
Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 33, or 0.31 percent, to 12,793. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures were down 1.30, or 0.09 percent, at 1,390.00, while Nasdaq 100 index futures shed 1.25, or 0.06 percent, to 1,937.75.
Bond prices were slightly higher in overnight trading. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.80 percent from 3.82 percent late Tuesday.
Oil prices slipped, adding to their steep slide of more than $3 a barrel in the previous session on a strengthening dollar and data showing a dramatic drop in American fuel demand. Light, sweet crude for June delivery fell 37 cents to $115.26 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
General Motors lost $3.3 billion in the first quarter as strong overseas growth was offset by a strike at a supplier and weak U.S. sales. However, the loss was smaller than Wall Street analysts expected.
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 Software maker SAP AG said its profit slipped in the first quarter because of the weaker dollar and its takeover of another software company, Business Objects. However, sales were higher and SAP raised its 2008 outlook.
Consumer-oriented companies said higher prices for commodities including oil and for raw materials and packaging affected their profit growth during the first quarter.
Kraft Foods posted a lower quarterly profit, hit by rising ingredient costs. While sales jumped, the largest North American food maker said it spent more on new products and marketing during the period.
Procter & Gamble posted higher quarterly profit as the world's largest consumer products maker offset higher commodities prices through cost controls. And International Paper reported first-quarter results also sank on higher costs during the quarter.
Meanwhile, Citigroup Inc. said late Tuesday it plans to sell $3 billion of common stock to boost its capital levels. The largest U.S. bank is raising more capital to offset more than $45 billion of write-downs and credit losses it has taken since June 30.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.32 percent. In morning trading, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.68 percent, Germany's DAX index slipped 0.40 percent, and France's CAC-40 shed 0.73 percent.
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[Associated Press; By JOE BEL BRUNO]
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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