(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures started lower in December after posting strong gains last month, with the focus on a package of economic data later this week, including a jobs report, to gauge the trajectory of Federal Reserve interest rates.
The focus of this week will be the November non-farm payrolls report due on Friday, which is also a key metric in assessing the state of the labor market.
Traders now see a more than 61% chance the Fed will decide to cut rates by 25 basis points when it meets later this month, compared with a nearly 83% chance a month ago, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
October job creation data is due on Tuesday, while November private payrolls data is due on Wednesday.
The S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow hit record closing highs on Friday, ending a stellar November for U.S. stocks.
Investors cheered U.S. stocks last month after Republican nominee Donald Trump recaptured the White House with his party sweeping both houses of Congress.
Trump’s policies of tax cuts, tariffs and deregulation could spur higher corporate performance. However, concerns that his policies could raise inflation also led to markets shrugging off the Fed’s hopes of accelerating its rate-cutting cycle.
The week is also full of data that could indicate how the economy is doing, including several surveys of economic activity over the past month.
November surveys of manufacturing activity from S&P Global and the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) are due later in the day.
A series of Fed speakers, including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, will also make public appearances this week, with investors looking for any clues about the central bank’s policy path.
Comments from Fed Governor Christopher Waller and New York Fed President John Williams will be on the radar later in the day.
Most megacap and growth stocks were slightly lower on the day, with Nvidia’s 1.6% decline leading the losses. On the other hand, Tesla outperformed with a 1.7% lead.
At 5:06 a.m. ET, the Dow E-mini was down 54 points, or 0.12%, the S&P 500 E-mini was down 12.75 points, or 0.21%, and the Nasdaq 100 E-mini was down 48.5 points, or 0.23 %.
Among other pre-market changes, the spread widened 3.5% after JP Morgan upgraded the apparel retailer’s rating to “overweight” from “neutral.”
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)