U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision, while the Israel-Iran conflict entered its sixth day, with new missile strikes launched from both sides.

The headline event for the day will likely arrive at 2 p.m. Eastern, when the Federal Reserve is set to announce its latest move on interest rates. The nearly unanimous expectation is that it will hold rates steady, as it’s been doing for all of this year after cutting through the end of 2024.

Investors are nearly unanimous in expecting the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates on hold Wednesday, in a range of 4.25% to 4.5%. The chart below shows how the central bank has steered policy since the turn of the century,