US stock futures fell early Tuesday morning as investors evaluated a fragile start to December trading.
Contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F), S&P 500 (ES=F), and Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) were all down around 0.1%, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
The muted trading follows a down session on Wall Street that ended five-day winning streaks for all three major indexes. Renewed risk-off sentiment has been driven by persistent inflation worries, high valuations, and growing skepticism about the returns on heavy AI-related spending.
Cryptocurrencies extended their retreat Monday, with bitcoin (BTC-USD) sliding 6% for its worst day since March. Shares of crypto-linked names Coinbase (COIN) and Robinhood (HOOD) each dropped more than 4%.
Despite tech’s rough November, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Dow (^DJI) managed to post modest monthly gains. Traders are now watching for potential catalysts that could revive a year-end rally.
Expectations for a December rate cut have climbed sharply ahead of the Federal Reserve’s Dec. 10 policy decision. Futures markets are pricing in an 87.6% probability of a cut, up significantly from mid-November, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
Investors are eyeing the Fed, primed for change, after a year of Trump butting heads with Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Trump said Sunday he has made his choice for replacing Powell. Despite Trump refusing to name an individual, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett is seen as the most likely candidate.
Third quarter earnings season continues to slowly wind down with Marvell (MRVL), Crowdstrike (CRWD) and Okta (OKTA) all releasing reports on Tuesday.
