Traders work on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange on December 10, 2024.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Stock index futures were essentially flat Tuesday night as investors braced for incoming inflation data.
Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures It is up 5 points and is near the flat line. S&P 500 Index Futures and Nasdaq 100 Futures Each trade rose less than 0.1%.
Traders are awaiting the release of the November Consumer Price Index in the morning. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected an inflation gauge tracking a basket of goods and services to rise 0.3% from October and 2.7% from a year earlier. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the so-called core consumer price index would have risen 0.3% this month and 3.3% from 12 months ago.
This comes ahead of a producer price index report expected later this week. These are the last two major economic data expected before the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting next week. Fed funds futures are priced over 85% probability The central bank will lower interest rates at that meeting, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
Tuesday night’s moves come after a day of losses on Wall Street. This marks the second day in a row that the stock has fallen S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Index and fourth consecutive negative trading day Dow Chemical.
Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird, said Tuesday’s moves suggested the market was in “waiting mode” ahead of the CPI release. He added that market participants may be “a little concerned” about what inflation might look like.
“You’re just seeing unnecessary consolidation in this momentum trade,” Mayfield said. “While we think we’re still in a bull market, it’s obviously going to take a period of consolidation to catch its breath.”
Investors will also be watching monthly federal budget data expected on Wednesday. In terms of corporate profitability, they will monitor adobe Results are scheduled to be announced after the bell.
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