US STOCKS-Futures decline ahead of Fed rate decision

By Pranav Kashyap and Johann M Cherian

March 18 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures slipped on Tuesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's upcoming meeting that will be closely monitored for commentary from the central bank on potential economic ramifications of ongoing tariff disputes.

The central bank's two-day rate-setting meeting starts later in the day, and is set to conclude on Wednesday. Markets anticipate it will maintain the status quo on interest rates, according to data compiled by LSEG.

The Fed's updated economic projections will shed light on policymakers' assessments of the tariff developments.

"The changes that we do expect (from the central bank) are in a pessimistic direction," said Ryan Wang, U.S. economist at HSBC.

"The potential 'stagflationary' risks from tariffs and trade policy uncertainty create a complication for the monetary policy outlook".

President Donald Trump's tariffs have ignited a trade skirmish with key U.S. trading partners, including swift retaliatory tariffs. Analysts noted U.S. equities entered oversold territory last week.

At 07:23 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were down 73 points, or 0.17%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were down 12.25 points, or 0.22%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were down 67.75 points, or 0.34%.

The S&P 500 .SPX plunged more than 10% from its February high, confirming the bellwether index has been in a correction since then.

The blue-chip Dow index .DJI hovered about 3% shy of a correction, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC confirmed it is in a correction on March 6.

Nvidia NVDA.O edged higher in premarket trading. The company is expected to reveal details of its latest AI chip at its annual software developer conference.

Tesla TSLA.O fell 1.8% after brokerage RBC trimmed its price target on the stock, flagging that the EV maker is losing market share in China and Europe.

Gold, often traded as a safe-haven asset, crossed $3,000 per ounce for the first time last week, and hit yet another record high earlier in the session.

U.S.-listed stocks of gold miners such as Barrick Gold GOLD.N rose 2.7% and Gold Fields GFI.N gained 2.6%.

Some investors engaged in "dip buying," capitalizing on discounted U.S. equities, and that has propelled all three major indexes up more than 2% each over the past two sessions.

Focus will also be on developments related to the Ukraine-Russia war as Trump was scheduled to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin later in the day.