US stock futures were marginally lower early Monday a week ago on anticipation of multiple events in the ongoing fight against inflation.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 3 points, or 0.01%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were down 0.07% and 0.1%, respectively.
The move in futures comes as investors will focus on inflation this week. November CPI is due Tuesday and traders will be looking for a sign that inflation is slowing.
The Federal Reserve has a two-day meeting starting on the same day. The central bank is expected to announce another rate hike on Wednesday, although traders expect less movement than in recent months.
In addition to the expected rate hike, the Fed’s updated economic forecasts and Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference could be important signals of what the central bank intends to do in the coming months.
“Financial conditions have eased dramatically since October’s CPI read released last month, so the Fed will likely use the December FOMC meeting to roll back. … We believe markets are overly optimistic on rates after the first quarter and we expect Powell to adopt a more aggressive tone and see the dots pointing to higher rates for a longer period of time than what is currently being priced in by futures markets said Cliff Hodge, Cornerstone Wealth’s chief investment officer.
Wall Street has had a difficult week, with all three major averages losing ground. The Dow fell 2.77% in its worst week since September. The S&P 500 fell 3.37% while the Nasdaq Composite lost 3.99%.
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