US Stock Futures Slip to Begin Fed Week

New York (Mar 14)  Stock futures were slightly lower on Monday ahead of the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting this week. S&P 500 futures were down 0.19%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.09%, and Nasdaq futures slid 0.12%.

The Fed will convene on Tuesday with an announcement and press conference set for Wednesday afternoon. The majority of economists don't expect the Fed to increase rates at this meeting after making initial liftoff in December. Consensus is for a June hike.

Morgan Stanley analysts disagreed, however, saying they believe that the Fed won't make a move until December. The bank expects Treasury 10-year yields to fall to 1.45% by the end of September, nearing a record low reached in 2012.

It's a busy week of monetary policy elsewhere. The Bank of Japan will meet on Tuesday and the Bank of England will meet on Thursday. The European Central Bank opted to cut rates further and expand its bond-buying program last week.

Crude oil prices were sharply lower after Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said the country wouldn't participate in negotiations with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries next week. Hopes had been high that OPEC members and non-member Russia could agree upon a production freeze in the face of tumbling oil prices, but are unlikely to do so unless all countries are on board. West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 2.2% to $37.69 a barrel. 

Starwood Hotels & Resorts (HOT - Get Report)  surged 8% in premarket trading after receiving an unsolicited buyout offer from a consortium of companies. The bid of $76 a share marks a 7.9% premium to Friday's closing price. The hotel chain's board is currently in support of a merger with Marriott (MAR - Get Report) .

Blackstone Group (BX - Get Report)  shares were on watch after the company reportedly agreed to sell Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc. to a Chinese firm for $6.5 billion. Blackstone only completed its acquisition of Strategic Hotels in December.

Source: TheStreet