Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 10, 2024.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Stock futures are near flat Tuesday night as investors gear up for incoming inflation data.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 18 points, sitting near the flatline. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures ticked higher by 0.1% each.
Traders are awaiting November’s consumer price index reading due in the morning. Economists polled by Dow Jones are expecting the inflation gauge, which tracks a basket of goods and services, to rise 0.3% from October and 2.7% compared with a year ago. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the so-called core CPI is slated to increase 0.3% on the month and 3.3% from 12 months earlier.
That comes ahead of the producer price index report expected later in the week. Those are two of the last major economic data releases anticipated before the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting next week. Fed funds futures are pricing in a more than 85% likelihood that the central bank lowers interest rates at that gathering, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.
Tuesday night’s action follows a losing day on Wall Street. It marked the second straight down day for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite and fourth negative session in a row for the Dow.
Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird, said Tuesday’s moves showed the market is in “waiting mode” ahead of the CPI print. He added that market participants may have “a little bit of concern” about what it might show when it comes to inflation.
“You’re just kind of seeing unnecessary consolidation of this momentum trade,” Mayfield said. “Even though we think we’re still in a bull market, there obviously needs to be periods of consolidation to kind of catch your breath.”
Investors will also watch for monthly federal budget data expected on Wednesday. On the corporate earnings front, they will monitor Adobe results slated for release after the bell.
