Stock futures rose Monday as traders hope the Federal Reserve will skip hiking rates when the central bank decides on policy Wednesday. S&P 500 futures added 0.2%. The benchmark is up four weeks in a row and has rallied more than 20% off its October low close. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose by 33 points, or 0.1%, while Nasdaq-100 futures advanced 0.5%. Markets have come to expect that the Fed will skip another rate increase at this week’s meeting, with traders Monday morning pricing in a 76% chance that there will be no hike. Tuesday’s inflation data could help reinforce the case that inflation is subsiding, as economists expect the consumer price index to show inflation dropping to a 4% annual rate in May. That’s down from 4.9% in the prior month. However, market expectations are that Fed officials will emphasize a commitment to keep inflation at bay, and come back with a final rate increase at July’s meeting before going on hold for the rest of the year. The central bank has raised rates 10 times. “I think [this week] is almost one of these big comeuppance moments because if the Fed essentially acknowledges that there’s been progress on inflation, we have a June pause and maybe even a July pause, I think it’s going to be a green light for some of those groups to finally get a bid,” Fundstrat’s Tom Lee said Friday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” The S&P 500 gained 0.4% last week and most notably, its gain from the October one-year closing low reached 20.2%, a bull market going by the most simplistic definition. The Dow and Nasdaq were also higher for the week. Traders are watching to see if the S&P 500 can punch through the 4,300 level with conviction and reach a new 1-year high. The benchmark closed at 4,298.86 on Friday. Its52-week intraday peak last August was 4,325.28. Tech stocks Oracle and AMD led gains in early premarket trading. Oracle reports earnings after the bell Monday. Asia-Pacific markets are trading mixed as investors return from a strong week and look forward to major central bank meetings scheduled ahead. The U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) takes place on June 13-14, the European Central Bank meets on Thursday, and the Bank of Japan’s meeting will conclude on Friday. China’s Shenzhen Component led gains in the region and advanced 0.78%, closing at 10,873.74 and led by education stocks. The Shanghai Composite, however, ended the day marginally lower at 3,228.83, snapping a three day winning streak. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slid 0.13% in its final hour of trade in a mostly flat session. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.52% to close at 32,434, continuing to hover near 33-year highs, while the Topix was up 0.65% to end the day at 2,238.77. South Korean stocks were lower, with the Kospi sliding 0.47% to end the day at 2,629.35 and retreat from its highest level in a year from last Friday. The Kosdaq gained 0.23% to end at 885.76. Australia’s markets were closed for a holiday. Oil prices fell Monday ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting as investors tried to gauge the central bank’s appetite for further rate hikes, while concerns about China’s fuel demand growth and rising Russian crude supply weighed on the market. Brent crude futures fell $1.87, or 2.5%, to $72.92 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at $68.19, down $1.98 or 2.82%. Gold prices rose on Monday on a weaker dollar as investors positioned for key U.S. economic data and clues on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path at its meeting this week. Spot gold last rose 0.1% to $1,962.50 per ounce. U.S. gold futures were down 0.02% to $1,976.80. The dollar was down 0.1%, making gold cheaper for holders of other currencies.