Wall Street futures showed a moderate increase pre-bell Monday as traders positioned themselves ahead of important economic reports, upcoming earnings announcements, and the Federal Reserve's policy declaration, all scheduled for this week. On Tuesday morning, Washington will unveil national retail sales data for November, followed by the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision on Wednesday afternoon.
The central bank is anticipated to lower its key policy rate by 0.25%. Later in the week, well-known companies such as Nike, Micron Technology, FedEx, Lennar, Accenture, General Mills, and Carnival are expected to announce their earnings. In the futures market, the S&P 500 experienced a 0.2% rise, while the Nasdaq gained 0.3%, and the Dow Jones increased by 0.1%. Asian markets traded predominantly lower overnight, reacting to a lackluster retail sales report from Beijing. European stocks showed a slight decline by midday across the continent. The economic agenda includes the Empire State Manufacturing Index for December set for release at 8:30 am ET, followed by the S&P Global flash December composite purchasing managers' index (PMI) at 9:45 am. In premarket activity, Bitcoin was exchanged at $104,531, West Texas Intermediate crude oil dipped to $70.17, and the yield on 10-year US Treasuries was at 4.38%.
Spot gold traded at a price of $2,659 per ounce..