• Stocks inched higher, while oil dropped amid China's new COVID lockdowns. 
  • The London Metal Exchange said it would resume nickel trading with price caps on Wednesday following last week's short squeeze. 
  • Investors are bracing for expected rate hikes from the Fed meeting Wednesday. 

Stocks inched higher Tuesday as day one of the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee was set to kick off and as oil dropped amid new COVID-19 lockdowns in China. 

The US Federal Reserve has signaled that it will initiate a cycle of rate hikes beginning at this month's meeting. Experts say that the war in Ukraine and its impact on global inflation may complicate the Fed's plans somewhat but it is unlikely that the central bank will deviate significantly from a path of tighter monetary policy. 

Meanwhile, new outbreaks of COVID-19 in provinces across China have led to fresh lockdowns in many major cities, including some industrial and manufacturing hubs. The new restrictions are exacerbating fears of global supply chain disruptions and denting the outlook for oil demand. 

Here's where US indexes stood at the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Tuesday: 

Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary said the rout in Chinese tech stocks makes for a good buying opportunity, and said that he added Tencent, Alibaba, and Meituan to his portfolio. 

After an epic nickel short squeeze that pushed prices to $100,000 last week, the London Metal Exchange said it would resume nickel trading with price caps on Wednesday. 

Oil tumbled on the potential for lower demand amid Chinese COVID lockdowns. West Texas Intermediate crude was down more than 7.2129% to $95.62 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, is also down about 6.76% to $99.67 a barrel. 

Gold fell 2.2% 1,925.50 per ounce. The 10-year yield was down about five basis points to 2.08%.

Bitcoin rose 0.25% to $38,852.29.

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