US stock futures fell on Tuesday ahead of fresh retail sales data and the start of a keenly awaited Federal Reserve policy meeting expected to usher in an interest-rate cut.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) slid 0.4%, coming off an eighth straight day of losses for the blue-chip index. S&P 500 futures (ES=F) also lost about 0.3%, while contracts on the Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) shed 0.2% on the heels of Monday’s record closing high.
Markets are waiting for Fed policymakers to kick off their final gathering of the year, amid almost total conviction that a 0.25% rate cut is coming on Wednesday. Some on Wall Street suspect it could be the last cut for some time, as inflation proves persistent. Given that, the focus is on clues to the path of rates next year — and in January, in particular.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury (^TNX) climbed to above 4.42%, its highest in over three weeks, amid rising bets on the Fed turning cautious for next year.
In the meantime, investors will watch for a November reading on retail sales due later, for insight into the health of the consumer and the economy. Economists estimate sales rose 0.5% month-on-month amid strong holiday spending.
Eyes are also on Nvidia (NVDA) amid a stock tumble, down more than 10% from its November record close. The chip giant’s shares slid 1.4% in pre-market, as gains for Broadcom (AVGO) and other sector peers continued to somewhat cushion the impact on the Nasdaq.
Elsewhere, crypto-linked stocks edged higher after bitcoin (BTC-USD) broke above $107,000 a token to keep its record-setting rally going. Shares of Coinbase (COIN), Mara Holdings (MARA), and MicroStrategy (MSTR) gained.
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