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Dow futures rose 200 points as investors await any hints Wednesday afternoon from the Federal Reserve about when it might start tapering its massive Covid-era bond purchases. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 looked poised to end a three-day losing streak Tuesday afternoon but closed lower. The Nasdaq was able to close higher, ending a two-session losing streak. For the month, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down 4%, just over 3.7% and nearly 3.4%, respectively. Monday’s plunge on Wall Street on worries about the Fed, embattled Chinese property group Evergrande, and Washington’s debt ceiling fight accelerated September’s slide.

The Fed concludes its two-day September meeting Wednesday, releasing its latest policy statement along with quarterly economic and interest rate forecasts at 2 p.m. ET Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is expected to brief the media 30 minutes later. Widely expected, the central bank will signal that it is preparing to announce a schedule for cutting back on its monthly $120 billion purchases of Treasurys. It is not expected that near-zero interest rates will change. Powell stated that increasing borrowing costs would be considered separate from tapering.

China’s Evergrande agreed to settle interest payments on a domestic bond Wednesday, while the Chinese central bank injected cash into the banking system, easing fears of imminent financial contagion from the debt-laden property developer. Evergrande’s debt woes are not likely to cause the same fallout as the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008, analysts said. Analysts point out a significant difference in the Evergrande and Lehman crises when it comes to potential impacts on international markets. Evergrande held land while Lehman had financial assets.

The House passed a bill to both prevent a federal government shutdown and suspend the debt limit in a step toward preventing possible economic calamity. Tuesday’s vote resulted in 220-211 with all Democrats voting for it, and all Republicans against it. Republicans have threatened to block the Senate measure, leaving Democrats to scramble for a way to move forward. To prevent a shutdown, Congress must pass a funding package by September 30. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Congress that the U.S. would exhaust all options for paying its bills until October.

U.S.-based Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech said Wednesday that they will provide an additional 500 million doses of their Covid vaccine to the U.S. government, which will in turn donate them to low and lower-middle-income countries. It expands on the already existing deal between the U.S. companies to offer additional vaccine doses at a non-profit cost for countries less fortunate. This also increases the number of vaccine doses that can be donated to these countries by one billion. President Joe Biden is set to hold a virtual vaccination summit with world leaders Wednesday. The President is likely to discuss this agreement.

— Reuters contributed to this report. Follow all the market action like a pro on CNBC Pro. Get the latest on the pandemic with CNBC’s coronavirus coverage.