(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures were subdued on Monday after the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq notched record closing highs in the previous session on upbeat corporate forecasts, while investors awaited a key inflation report due later in the week.
The consumer prices index (CPI) data due on Wednesday is among the last major datasets ahead of the Federal Reserve’s Dec. 17-18 meeting and could influence the bank’s monetary policy path.
Money market participants are now pricing in an about 87% chance of a 25-basis-point cut in the next week, according to the CME’s FedWatch tool.
The bets increased after strong November employment numbers on Friday, with some analysts saying the data was not hot enough to keep the Fed from cutting rates this month.
However, a host of Fed officials including Chair Jerome Powell have said that the central bank could afford to be more cautious with its monetary policy easing path, given the resilience of the economy.
At 05:29 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 24 points, or 0.05%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 5 points, or 0.08%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 30.5 points, or 0.14%.
Wall Street’s main indexes kicked off December on a broadly positive note, with benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq logging gains in their first week, while the Dow ended the week marginally lower.
U.S. equities surged in November as Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election and his party sweeping both houses of Congress raised expectations of a friendlier policy stance towards companies.
Investors were also keeping an eye on political developments in Syria, France and South Korea.
Among notable premarket movers, Workday and Apollo Global Management jumped 10% and 5.9%, respectively, on their planned inclusion into the S&P 500 index.
Interpublic Group advanced 13.8% after a report said marketing conglomerate Omnicom was in advanced talks to acquire the advertising company. Omnicom shares were down 2.6%.
U.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies also gained after the Chinese Politburo hinted at a shift to looser monetary policy next year and more proactive fiscal policy to spur economic growth. Alibaba was up 6.5%, PDD Holdings climbed 9.8% and Baidu added 5.6%.
Most megacap and growth stocks were subdued, while Tesla outperformed with a 1.9% gain.
(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
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