US stock futures were slightly lower on Sunday evening ahead of a week with several events expected in the ongoing fight against inflation.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 33 points, or about 0.1%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were each down 0.2%.
The move in futures comes as investors focus on inflation this week. November’s consumer price index will be released on Tuesday and traders will be looking for a sign that inflation is slowing.
The Federal Reserve has a two-day meeting starting the same day. The central bank is expected to announce another rate hike on Wednesday, although traders expect a smaller move than in recent months.
In addition to the expected rate hike, the Fed’s updated economic projections and Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference could be key signals of what the central bank wants to do in the coming months.
“Financial conditions have eased sharply since the October CPI reading released last month, so the Fed will likely use the December FOMC meeting to pull them back… We believe markets are too bullish on rates after the first quarter and we expect Powell to take a more hawkish tone and points to higher rates for a longer time frame than futures markets currently have,” said Cliff Hodge , Chief Investment Officer at Cornerstone Wealth.
Wall Street is coming off a tough week in which all three major averages lost ground. The Dow fell 2.77% for its worst week since September. The S&P 500 fell 3.37%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 3.99%.