Wall Street futures pointed moderately lower pre-bell Tuesday as traders awaited a retail sales report and pending central bank rate decisions in Tokyo and Washington. The US national retail sales bulletin for November will be posted at 8:30 a.m. ET and will be parsed for clues to the strength of the domestic economy.
The Federal Reserve begins a two-day policy meeting and is slated to announce a rate decision on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET. The CME FedWatch tool indicates a 95.4% likelihood of the US central bank cutting its interest rate by 0.25%. The Bank of Japan will follow on Thursday with its rate decision. In futures, the S&P 500 fell 0.3%, the Nasdaq was steady near its fresh record zenith set on Monday, and the Dow Jones was off 0.4%.
Asian exchanges traded mostly lower overnight, while European bourses tracked moderately south at midday. Amentum (AMTM) plans to report earnings pre-bell, among others. Also on the economic calendar is the industrial production bulletin for November at 9:15 a.m. ET, the business inventories report for October at 10 a.m., and the housing market index for December, also at 10 a.m.
In pre-market action, Bitcoin traded at $107,043, West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded lower at $69.67, and 10-year US Treasuries offered 4.42%. Spot gold traded for $2,641 an ounce..