US STOCKS-Futures dip as focus turns to Fed meeting

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

*

Crypto-related stocks drop as bitcoin falls

*

Most chip stocks under pressure, Nvidia falls

*

Futures down: Dow 0.21%, S&P 0.47%, Nasdaq 0.70%

(Updated at 8:14 a.m. ET/1214 GMT)

By Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Shashwat Chauhan

March 19 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main stock indexes were set to open lower on Tuesday as investors braced for the Federal Reserve's March policy meeting and chip stocks weakened.

All three major stock indexes finished higher in the previous session, with the Nasdaq bouncing back from two successive small weekly losses as growth stocks such as Alphabet and Tesla boosted the tech-heavy index.

Most megacap growth stocks were under pressure in premarket trading.

Investor darling Nvidia fell 2.1% after the company unveiled the Blackwell B200, an AI chip it says is up to 30 times faster than its previous chip. Some investors suggested the news was priced into the high-flying stock.

Fellow chipmakers such as AMD, Marvell Technology and Intel shed between 1.0% and 3.0%.

AI server maker Super Micro Computer dropped nearly 10% after announcing that it will sell 2 million shares that could fetch about $2 billion.

All eyes are on U.S. central bankers who are expected to hold rates steady at the end of their two-day meeting on Wednesday.

But, investors are concerned that their new economic projections may be a wild card, potentially signaling fewer interest rate cuts and a later start to the policy easing cycle.

"It's all about the dot plot," said Mike Reynolds, vice president of investment strategy at Glenmede.

"There's almost no expectation that they're taking rates off the highs but the Fed is going to be taking a hard look at inflation, which for the first two months of the year has been pretty sticky."

Robust inflation data has pushed traders to pull back bets of the first rate cut coming in June to 55.2% from 71% at the start of last week, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

At 8:14 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 82 points, or 0.21%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 24.75 points, or 0.47%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 127.75 points, or 0.7%.

Among other movers, crypto-exchange operator Coinbase Global and miners Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital Holdings shed between 5.2% and 6.3%, tracking the sharp slide in bitcoin.

Spire Global jumped 14.9% after the company announced a collaboration with Nvidia for AI-driven weather prediction.

(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Maju Samuel)