Stock futures rose slightly Wednesday as Wall Street anticipated the first Federal Reserve interest rate cut in four years. Gains were muted as uncertainty lingered over how big the easing will be from the central bank. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 26 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures advanced around 0.1% each. The Fed is expected to deliver its latest policy decision at 2 p.m. ET. The central bank is expected to lower rates by at least a quarter percentage point, but traders are divided over how big the reduction will be. CME Group’s FedWatch tool shows traders pricing in a 65% chance of a half-point cut and 35% odds of a quarter-point move. It’s unusual to have this much uncertainty into a Fed decision as the central bank typically tries to telegraph its next move to the markets. Traders had believed for most of the last month that the Fed would lower by a quarter point, but the idea of a super-sized cut began to gain traction in the past week. “You’d have to go back over 15 years to find such an uncertain situation this close to the decision. A lot of money will be made and lost today,” Jim Reid, Deutsche Bank head of global economics and thematic research, wrote in a Wednesday note. The ushering in of a cutting cycle is expected to shore up a stalling economy and further boost an already strong market, with the S&P 500 at a record following an 18% gain this year. The benchmark has averaged gains of about 16% in the 12 months following the first cut, according to data from Canaccord Genuity. Despite these market expectations, some investors remain cautious about cutting rates too much, too soon. Peter Cecchini, Axonic Capital’s director of research, called a 50 basis point cut “unusual” as the first move in a cutting cycle from the Fed given the current state of the housing market. “This is not really the environment where I think the Fed needs to do a 50 basis point cut as a preemptive measure, when historically it’s never done so,” he told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Tuesday. Wall Street is coming off a mixed session that saw the S&P 500 edge up 0.03% after notching another all-time high during intraday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 16 points, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.2%. U.S. Treasury yields ticked higher Wednesday as all eyes were on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision expected for later in the day. At 7:05 a.m. ET, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was up by around 2 basis points at 3.664%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last at 3.619% after adding nearly three basis points. Asia-Pacific markets ended mostly higher Wednesday, with Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 extending a multi-day winning streak to settle at an all-time high. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index ended marginally higher at 8,142.1. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.49% to 36,380.17 while the broad-based Topix added 0.38% to 2,565.37. Mainland China’s CSI 300 edged up 0.37% to close at 3,171, after closing at its lowest level since January 2019 on Friday. The Taiwan Weighted Index fell nearly 0.78% to close at 21,850.08. South Korea and Hong Kong markets were closed for a holiday. U.S. crude oil fell Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve’s pivotal decision on interest rates later this afternoon. “In theory a rate cut is supportive for oil prices but we’ve seen prices rallying in recent days, likely pricing this in already, hence the response may be muted,” said Matt Smith, lead oil analyst for the Americas at Kpler. The oil market has been rattled this month by worries about a growing imbalance between supply and demand. The U.S. benchmark is down more than 13% in the third quarter, while global benchmark Brent has fallen more than 15%. West Texas Intermediate October contract: $70.65 per barrel, down 54 cents, or 0.8%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil is down more than 1%. Brent November contract: $73.16 per barrel, down 54 cents, or 0.7%. Year to date, the global benchmark has fallen about 5%. Gold prices were little changed on Wednesday as investors maintained caution ahead of the Federal Reserve policy meeting, which is expected to start a U.S. monetary easing cycle. Spot gold was steady at $2,568.63 per ounce as of 0840 GMT. Bullion rose to a record high of $2,589.59 on Monday. U.S. gold futures were up 0.1% to $2,595.00.