U.S. equity futures are trending downward as the market anticipates Tuesday's opening bell, coinciding with the commencement of the Federal Reserve's policy-setting meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures have decreased by 0.5%, while S&P 500 futures fell 0.4%, and Nasdaq futures are lower by 0.2%.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is set to hold its two-day meeting, initiating later today, with expectations for a policy statement to be issued at 2 PM ET on Wednesday. Many analysts are forecasting a 25-basis-point reduction in interest rates. Concurrently, oil prices have taken a downturn, with the front-month global benchmark, North Sea Brent crude, slipping 1% to $73.19 per barrel, and U.S.
West Texas Intermediate crude decreasing by 1.6% to $69.53 per barrel. Retail sales data released at 8:30 AM ET showed a month-over-month increase of 0.7% in November, following a 0.5% rise the month before, surpassing Bloomberg's estimates which predicted a 0.6% gain. Industrial production figures, expected at 9:15 AM ET, are projected to rise by 0.3% in November, recovering from a 0.3% decline in the preceding month.
Business inventories, due out at 10 AM ET, are anticipated to edge up by 0.2% in October. Additionally, analysts predict the U.S. housing market index to register a value of 47 for December, compared to the previous figure of 46. In global market movements, Japan's Nikkei index closed 0.2% lower, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell by 0.5%, and China's Shanghai Composite saw a decline of 0.7%.
Over in Europe, the UK's FTSE 100 dropped 0.8%, and Germany's DAX index fell by 0.2% during the early afternoon session. In the equities space, Portage Biotech ($PRTG) shares rallied over 180% in pre-market trading after announcing a letter of intent to negotiate an option agreement to sell its iOx Therapeutics subsidiary to Immunova.
Conversely, Mama's Creations ($MAMA) witnessed a 16% drop in its shares following a report of decreased fiscal Q3 earnings..