March futures on the S&P/TSX index were down 0.2% at 6:34 a.m. ET (10:34 GMT).

All eyes will be on Canada's consumer price index (CPI) data due at 8:30 a.m. ET, for clues on the central bank's policy outlook. Economists expect inflation to rise to an annual rate of 3.1% in February from 2.9% in January.

Data on Monday showed the producer price inflation rose 0.7% in February versus an expectation of a 0.1% rise, led by a 2.1% increase in raw material prices.

Money market participants see the Bank of Canada to cut interest rates by 60 basis points in 2024, with the first rate cut likely in July.

Meanwhile, Wall Street's main index futures were little changed as investors remained cautious ahead of the start of the Federal Reserve's meeting, where the central bank is widely expected to keep the interest rates unchanged. [.N]

The Fed will deliver its rate decision on Wednesday.

Materials group, which houses Canada's precious and base metal miners, could be affected as prices of almost all base metals fell, pressured by profit-taking and a stronger dollar that made greenback-priced metals more expensive to holders of other currencies. [MET/L]

Oil prices, on the other hand, were largely steady on Tuesday near four-month highs after breaking above range-bound trading last week, but the prospect of rising exports from Russia weighed amid Ukrainian attacks on refineries. [O/R]

While domestic equities have come off their two-year highs this week, the benchmark index remained up over 4% boosted by a rally in technology shares and hopes of interest rate cuts this year.

COMMODITIES AT 6:34 a.m. ET

Gold futures: $2,158.6; -0.3% [GOL/]

US crude: $82.49; -0.3% [O/R]

Brent crude: $86.61; -0.3% [O/R]

($1= C$1.3571)

(Reporting by Shubham Batra in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)