Stock futures ticked lower early Tuesday as investors looked ahead to a holiday-shortened week of trading.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 152 points, or 0.44%, while S&P 500 futures pulled back 0.29%. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.29%.
Markets were closed for the regular trading session Monday due to the Juneteenth holiday.
Investors are coming off of a strong week, even as the major averages had slipped on Friday. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite posted their best weekly performances since March, with the broad-market benchmark rising 2.6% and the tech-heavy index adding 3.25%. It was also the S&P 500's fifth positive week in a row — a first since November 2021 — and the Nasdaq's eighth consecutive positive week, a feat it previously accomplished in 2019.
Investors were seemingly receptive toward the central bank's decision to skip a June rate hike last week. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told a press conference on Wednesday that the central bank has yet to make a decision on policy ahead of the July meeting. However, policymakers are forecasting two more quarter-point rate increases later this year. The decision to skip a hike in June broke the Fed's streak of ten consecutive interest rate increases.
Despite Powell's insistence that future Fed policy will remain data dependent, stocks have been on an upswing. Investors are trying to gauge how last week's strong market sentiment will hold up in a shortened trading week that is light on economic data. Housing starts data will be out on Tuesday morning.
New York Fed President John Williams will appear with Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr at a corporate governance event in New York City on Tuesday. Fed Chair Powell is set to testify in front of Congress on Wednesday and Thursday.
In earnings, investors will look toward a quarterly report from shipping giant FedEx on Tuesday after the the closing bell.
