Japan markets set to open muted as investors look ahead to Fed meeting conclusion

SINGAPORE — Japan markets were poised to trade muted at the open on Wednesday, after U.S. equities tumbled overnight in another volatile session as investors await the Fed meeting statement later stateside.

Both the Nikkei futures contract in Chicago and Osaka were at 27,150, relatively unchanged from the Nikkei 225's last close at 27,131.34.

Markets in Australia and India are closed for holidays on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund downgraded its global growth forecast for this year as rising Covid-19 cases, supply chain disruptions and higher inflation hamper economic recovery. It said in a report published Tuesday that it expects global gross domestic product to weaken from 5.9% in 2021 to 4.4% in 2022 — with this year's figure being half a percentage point lower than previously estimated.

Stocks stateside tumbled following a volatile session on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down Tuesday, shedding 67.77 points, or 0.2%, to close at 34,297.73. The index swung from a nearly 819-point deficit at its lows to a roughly 226-point rally at its highs during the session. The S&P 500 dipped 1.2% to 4,356.45. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 2.3% to 13,539.30.

Markets will be looking ahead to the Fed's conclusion of its meeting on Wednesday, where it's expected to issue a statement signaling a rate hike as soon as March and more policy tightening on the table to address high inflation.

Elsewhere, geopolitical tensions continued to rattle investors as Western allies prepared for some kind of military confrontation, getting troops in place in the event that Russia does invade Ukraine.

Oil prices rose over 2% on Tuesday on concerns that supplies could become tight due to those Ukraine-Russia tensions, among other factors.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 95.966, continuing to rise from earlier levels of around 95.8.

The Japanese yen traded at 113.91 per dollar, while the Australian dollar was at $0.7157, strengthening from arounf $0.714 earlier.

— CNBC's Karen Gilchrist contributed to this report.