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Stocks looked set to fall on Tuesday, with investors reluctant to make any major moves ahead of the start of fourth-quarter earnings season and a consumer price index inflation print.
Futures tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 51 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures were also down 0.1%, and contracts tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 dropped 0.2%.
The Dow and S&P 500 both extended their record-breaking runs on Monday, hitting new closing highs as investors managed to shake off the worst of their worries about the independence of the Federal Reserve.
The dip in futures probably reflects some apprehension ahead of the December CPI report, which will help decide if the Fed has scope to cut interest rates. Bank JPMorgan and airline Delta are both set to post earnings, as the market tries to figure out if blue-chip stocks can maintain their lofty valuations.
Wall Street is also trying to figure out what will happen with tariffs–the Supreme Court has scheduled Wednesday as its next opinions day, and President Donald Trump said overnight that the U.S. would be “screwed” if it rules against his administration’s reciprocal levies.
“There’s no immediate sign of any letup on the calendar…Yet despite all the noise, risk assets have been remarkably unfazed by everything,” Deutsche Bank macro strategist Jim Reid said.
Asian stocks enjoyed a strong session on Tuesday, with Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rising 3.1% on reports that Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi could call a snap lower house election. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and South Korea’s KOSPI also closed in the green.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note climbed 2 basis points to 4.20% in early trading. The dollar ticked up 0.2% against a weighted basket of its peers.
Precious metals traded mixed. Gold futures slid 0.2% to $4,604 an ounce, but silver futures jumped 1% to just under $86 an ounce. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by total market capitalization, climbed 1.6% over the past 24 hours to $92,059.
