By Johann M Cherian and Sukriti Gupta
(Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures were trading flat to slightly higher on Tuesday ahead of a set of economic data, with investors looking for any insights on policies of the incoming Trump administration.
Any signs of continued resilience in the economy from the data is likely to push back expectations on the pace of the Federal Reserve's monetary easing cycle this year.
Top on the investor radar is the Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey for November and the Institute for Supply Management's data on services activity for December, both due at 10 a.m. ET. The non-farm payrolls data is due later this week.
"A move higher in unemployment could create a challenge for the Fed should inflation remain sticky," said Brent Schutte, chief investment officer at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company.
"It will be forced to navigate between cutting too aggressively and risking a reawakening of elevated inflation, all the while being mindful that if it cuts too slowly, it could cause additional pockets of weakness in the economy."
At 8:39 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 108 points, or 0.25%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 10.5 points, or 0.17% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 1.75 points, or 0.01%.
Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note has risen since early December and is trading at 4.63% - near its highest level since May 2024.
Traders expect the Fed to take a dovish stance for the first time this year in June, according to the CME Group's (NASDAQ:CME) FedWatch tool, after the Fed forecast as much as 50 basis point cut in 2025. Minutes from its December meeting are due on Wednesday.
In the previous session, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed short of one-week highs on uncertainty after President-elect Donald Trump denied a report that his team was exploring less aggressive tariff policies.
Analysts have said Trump's campaign pledges such as tax cuts, tariffs and loose regulation if implemented could invigorate the economy, although it could increase inflation and slow the pace of rate cuts. His tariff plans if acted upon could also spark a trade war among the country's top partners.
Among premarket movers, Nvidia rose 2.2%, a day after unveiling new products and partnerships at a major annual tech conference in Las Vegas.
The AI-bellwether is on track to overtake Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) to become the most valuable listed company, if premarket gains hold. Apple slipped 1% after brokerage MoffettNathanson downgraded the stock to "sell" from "neutral".
Nasdaq component Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) dropped 2% after BofA Global Research downgraded the stock to "neutral" from "buy".
Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) rose 3.4% after Nvidia boss Jensen Huang said the chipmaker was providing memory for the AI-bellwether's GeForce RTX 50 Blackwell family of gaming chips.
Big banks such as Citigroup (NYSE:C) added 1.4% and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) rose 1.2% on bullish coverage from Truist Securities, while Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) climbed 1.3% after positive ratings from at least three brokerages.