By Rama Venkat Raman
(Reuters) - The Dow Jones Industrial Average was set to open higher on Tuesday on gains from oil-related stocks and Boeing, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq futures pointed to a flat opening ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.
The benchmark Brent crude, gained more than 1.65 percent to rise above $65 a barrel for the first time since mid-2015 after an unplanned shutdown of the UK's biggest North Sea oil pipeline.
Shares of oil majors Exxon, Chevron and Schlumberger rose by between 0.14 percent and 0.68 percent in premarket trading.
Boeing shares were set to open at a record high after the company said it would raise its quarterly dividend by 20 percent and replace its existing share buyback program with a new $18 billion authorization.
At 8:31 a.m. ET (1331 GMT), Dow e-minis were up 52 points, or 0.21 percent, with 11,295 contracts changing hands.
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S&P 500 e-minis were up 1.75 points, or 0.07 percent, with 194,263 contracts traded.
Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 2.5 points, or 0.04 percent, on volume of 16,031 contracts.
The Fed is widely expected to raise its benchmark interest rate for third time this year at the end of the meeting on Wednesday. Traders see an 87.6 percent chance of a 25 basis point rate hike, according to CME Group's Fedwatch tool.
Investors will watch for the central bank's forecast on future rate hikes and the view on the health of the economy.
In Sept, the central bank forecast three rate hikes in 2018, but a sluggish wage growth and inflation that has run below the its forecast has raised doubts about the pace of future rate hikes.
A fairly upbeat November U.S. payrolls report showed strength in job growth, but average hourly earnings rose less-than-expected.
"Investors are presented with an interesting economic outlook. They are looking at a positive set of economic data in an improving economy, with some hesitation with regards to Federal Reserve, given the change in leadership," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey.
Though the current Fed Chair, Janet Yellen, will continue until February, her final press conference on Wednesday afternoon will set the policy backdrop incoming Chair, Jerome Powell, inherits.
A Labor Department report showed U.S. producer prices rose in November as gasoline prices surged and the cost of other goods increased.
Producer price index for final demand increased 0.4 percent last month, while economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index rising 0.3 percent.
Comcast shares rose about 1.74 percent after the company abandoned its bid for most of the assets of Twenty-First Century Fox, leaving Walt Disney as the sole suitor of the $40 billion-plus deal.
Disney shares rose 0.47 percent.
(Reporting by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
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