1. Stocks not handling the pressure

Stock markets aren't looking so friendly right now.

Nearly every global index is dropping on Wednesday, and U.S. stock futures are all pointing down. If the S&P 500 notches another loss today, that would make it a 7-day losing streak.

In Europe, a handful of indexes have dropped by more than 1%, although losses on major markets are smaller.

And Asian markets are all closing out the day with losses.

So what's behind the current mood? Market strategists are pointing the finger at a new poll in the Washington Post that shows Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are essentially tied in the presidential race.

If Donald Trump wins the election, U.S. stocks are forecast to tank as investors flee to the safety of gold and bonds. That may already be happening - global bond prices are rising.

2. Focus on Fed

The Federal Reserve is deciding Wednesday at 18:00GMT whether to raise its key interest rate after wrapping up a two-day meeting. It's highly unlikely - though still possible - that the Fed will hike rates in reaction to a slowly improving economy.

Wednesday's meeting won't be followed by a news conference, but the Fed statement will be watched closely for clues about what the central bank may decide at its next meeting in December.

3. Earnings and economics

Alibaba (BABA, Tech30), Clorox (CLX), Estee Lauder (EL), New York Times (NYT), Office Depot (ODP) and CNN's parent company, Time Warner (TWX), are just a few of the firms that are releasing earnings before the opening bell rings in New York.

Facebook (FB, Tech30), 21st Century Fox (FOX), Transocean (RIG), MetLife (MET), Fitbit (FIT) and GoDaddy (GDDY) are among the companies reporting after the close.

On the economic side, the ADP Employment report for October is set to be released at 12:15GMT And the U.S. Energy Information Administration is reporting weekly crude oil inventory data at 10:30 a.m. Oil prices are currently slipping to trade around $46 per barrel. They stood at $52 per barrel just two weeks ago.

Also coming this week:

Thursday - Bank of England rate decision, News Corp (NWS), CBS (CBS) and Starbucks (SBUX) earnings .

Friday – NFP Jobs report, Adidas (ADDDF) earnings, International trade report.

4. USD slump continues

The dollar was lower against a basket of the other major currencies on Wednesday, extending losses into a second session as new polls indicated that the gap is narrowing between the U.S. presidential candidates ahead of next week’s election.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.24% to 97.52, the lowest level since October 13.

Polls on Tuesday indicated an increasingly uncertain outcome for the U.S. presidential election.