U.S. stock futures are slightly lower ahead of the Wall Street open as traders await the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision this afternoon.

Stocks have been choppy this week as investors await the decision. The Fed is expected to deliver its third straight interest rate cut of a quarter percentage point, with Fed funds futures suggesting a roughly 90% chance of a decrease, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.

Rising yields have been a thorn in the side of traders hoping for a ‘Santa Claus Rally’ with the benchmark 10-Year Yield at 3-month highs this morning at 4.2%. Despite the choppiness this week, the small-cap Russell 2000 (RUT) hit an intraday record high yesterday as investors anticipate lower near-term rates after the cut.

• Oil (/CL) – Oil prices are up 0.6% near $58.60 a barrel as investors watched for progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks and awaited a decision on U.S. interest rates.

• Gold (/GC) – Gold is down 0.2% near $4225 as investors positioned for the widely expected December Federal Reserve rate cut, even as attention shifted to whether policymakers will signal a slower easing path later today.

• Bitcoin (/BTC) – The Crypto Future is down 1% near 92,500 in premarket trading.

• VIX – The CBOE Volatility Index rose 1.6% on Tuesday and settled at 16.93 as stocks were mixed.

• U.S. Dollar (/DX) – The dollar is down 0.1% to 99.1.

• JPMorgan upgrades PepsiCo (PEP) to Overweight from Neutral

• Oppenheimer upgrades GE Vernova (GEV) to Outperform from Perform

• HSBC upgrades AbbVie (ABBV) to Buy from Hold

• HSBC downgrades Biogen (BIIB) to Reduce from Hold

• JPMorgan downgrades Transocean (RIG) to Underweight from Neutral

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