US pre-open: Futures in the red as traders continue to await CPI reading
Wall Street futures were little in the red ahead of the bell on Tuesday as market participants continued to hold out for key inflation data scheduled for release later in the week.
As of 1200 GMT, Dow Jones futures were down 0.04%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were 0.16% and 0.28% lower, respectively.
The Dow closed just 1.39 points higher on Monday, while the S&P 500 gave back some of the gains recorded in what was the best week for the index so far this year.
Tuesday looked set to be another quiet day for markets, with investors holding out for the Labor Department's January consumer price index data on Thursday, with the report expected to show that prices rose 0.4% in January for a 7.2% gain year-on-year.
Also in focus, Treasury yields hit fresh Covid-era highs on Monday and were higher again ahead of the bell on Tuesday, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury note sitting at around 1.941% - a level not seen since before the pandemic in January 2020.
On the macro front, small business confidence fell to an 11-month low in January, according to the National Federation of Independent Business, as ongoing worker shortages and increase prices for raw materials weighed on sentiment. The NFIB's small business optimism index fell 1.8 points to 97.1 last month for its lowest reading since February 2021, with half of the 1,504 small businesses participating in the poll reportedly raising staff compensation - the highest reading for that particular metric in 48 years.
Still to come, December's trade balance figures will be published at 1330 GMT.
In the corporate space, Warner Music, Harley-Davidson and Pfizer will update before the open, while Chipotle, Peloton and Lyft will all report earnings after the close.