Global stock markets drifted Tuesday on the eve of a key monetary policy update from the US Federal Reserve and ahead of earnings results from tech giants.

While trading floors are geared up for a rocket-fuelled surge in economic activity in the second half of the year and into the next, traders are in wait-and-see mode.

The Fed’s monetary policy meeting outcome on Wednesday is broadly expected to see it reassert its pledge to maintain ultra-loose policy until its goals on unemployment and inflation are met.

The Fed’s accompanying statement will be closely examined for clues on the state of the US economy and the future path for borrowing costs.

The central bank’s meetings are a crucial focus of investor interest as they continue to fret that the expected strong recovery will send prices soaring and force policymakers to raise the record low interest rates cementing a global rally.

US President Joe Biden, meanwhile, will make his first State of the Union address on Wednesday, in which he could unveil a $1.8-trillion American Families Plan that would provide national child care, paid family leave and free community college, paid for with higher taxes on the rich.

After Monday saw record high closes, Wall Street was barely creeping into the red two hours into trading.

Earlier, most Asian markets had swung in and out of positive territory with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney, Seoul, Jakarta and Manila all in the red.

Major European markets all limited losses, London off 0.3 percent — aeronautics manufacturer Rolls Royce shed 4.5 percent — while Frankfurt and Paris also slipped into the red.

Google owner Alphabet and Microsoft was to publish first quarter results on Tuesday while Apple, Amazon and Facebook will release their figures later this week.

Elsewhere, oil prices rose before Wednesday’s key output meeting of OPEC and other major crude producers and in a sign economic recovery may be around the corner the price of copper hit a decade-high close to $10,000 a tonne, largely on strong Chinese demand and tight supplies of the metal used in popular electric wiring amid strike action in the world’s biggest producer Chile.

The price has more than doubled since dropping to $4,371 a tonne in March last year as the coronavirus pandemic took hold around the world.

European Union competition authorities will “imminently” file formal accusations against Apple for unfairly squeezing out music streaming rivals, two sources close to the case said Tuesday.

The charge sheet would land as Apple faces a rebellion from firms that want to break free of the global Apple app store’s terms, with anti-trust agencies in the US, Britain and South Korea also taking an interest.

It also comes as Apple gears up for an epic battle with Facebook over its new policy on better protecting the personal data of iPhone users.

The Financial Times, which first reported the development, said the “statement of objections”, the formal name for the procedure, could fall as early as this week.

The European Commission’s case is based on a complaint brought by Sweden-based Spotify and others that accuses Apple of making unfair use of its app store to promote its own Apple Music.

Spotify filed a formal complaint in 2019 that also accused Apple of unfairly taking a 30 percent cut from businesses using its store, which Spotify says amounts to a violation of fair competition rules.

The case is one of four taken up by the European Commission against Apple last year and could force the company to change the way it does business.

Once charged, Apple would have the chance to defend its side and offer to tweak its business model to satisfy EU regulators who can also impose fines.

The European Commission declined to comment on an ongoing investigation.

Apple declined to comment, but referred to a 2019 statement that said its App Store helped Spotify become Europe’s largest music streaming service.

The tech giant was previously in the EU’s crosshairs four years ago when Brussels ordered the California-based giant to repay 13 billion euros ($14.7 billion at current rates) in a tax case against Ireland.

Russia has imposed a $12.1 million fine on Apple for “abusing” its dominant position in the market by giving preference to its own applications, a government regulator said on Tuesday.

“Apple was found to have abused its dominant position in the iOS distribution market through a series of sequential actions which resulted in a competitive advantage for its own products,” the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service said in a statement.

It said that it had hit the company with a fine of more than 906 million rubles after ruling in favour of a complaint brought against the US tech giant by cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab.

Apple is appealing the ruling and on Tuesday told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency that it “respects the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service of Russia, but does not agree with the decision.”

The fine comes after a new law went into effect in Russia earlier this month demanding that smartphones, tablets and computers sold in the country come with pre-installed domestic software and apps.

Dubbed the “anti-Apple” law, the controversial bill was introduced in an effort to promote Russia’s tech companies but critics say it is the latest attempt to tighten state control over the internet.

It requires all devices with internet access sold in the country — whether they are produced locally or abroad — to be equipped with approved software produced by Russian companies or face fines starting in July.

The list includes programmes made by Kaspersky.

Apple reportedly voiced strong opposition to the legislation and threatened to pull out of the Russian market, but eventually agreed to comply.

Russia routinely fines Western tech companies like Apple, Google and Facebook, and in recent years it has been tightening control over the internet under the pretext of fighting extremism and protecting minors.

In 2019, it passed a law on the development of “sovereign internet” aimed at isolating the country’s internet from the worldwide web, a move activists say will stifle free speech.

Israel said on Monday it is closing the fishing zone off the already blocked Gaza Strip, preventing trawlers from going out to sea, after repeated rocket attacks by Plestinians on the Jewish state.

The move comes after the Israeli army said five rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel overnight, two of which were intercepted by its air defences.

The fishing zone off Gaza will “be completely closed until further notice,” said COGAT, the Israeli military body that administers civilian affairs in Palestinian territories including the occupied West Bank.

The measure was “due to the continuation of the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip towards the State of Israel during the night”, it said in a statement.

It did not say who was responsible, but said it would hold the Islamist movement Hamas, which controls Gaza, “accountable for all that is done in and from the Gaza Strip towards Israel”.

Hamas “will bear the consequences for the violence committed against the citizens” of Israel, it said.

Hamas itself denounced Israel’s move as “a flagrant violation” of fishermen’s rights and a form of “continued aggression” against Gazans.

“Will not accept restrictive measures and pressure on the Palestinians,” a spokesman said in a statement, warning that Israel will “pay” for its “aggressive behaviour”.

Salvos of rockets were also fired at Israel from Gaza overnight Friday and again overnight Saturday, prompting Israel to carry out retaliatory air strikes on the coastal enclave.

Israel, which has imposed a blockade on Gaza for more than a decade, had set the fishing zone for the coastal enclave at 20 nautical miles following the Oslo peace accords in the 1990s.