Mike
Stock index futures were largely flat on Tuesday, as traders braced for the retail inflation print slated to come on Wednesday.
S&P 500 futures (SPX) +0.1%, Nasdaq 100 futures (US100:IND) +0.1% and Dow futures (INDU) -0.1%.
The 10-year Treasury yield (US10Y) was flat at 3.71%. The 2-year yield (US2Y) rose 1 basis point to 3.69%.
Wall Street’s major market averages finished higher on Monday.
"There wasn’t a single catalyst for the recovery, but in a constantly flip-flipping macro narrative the sense yesterday was that last week’s fears about a sharper U.S. downturn were overdone, and the headline data still wasn’t consistent with a recession," Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid said.
In the last 24 hours, the more positive momentum shift was down to sentiment rather than any new data, Reid added.
The big economic data are the August consumer and producer price index reports. The CPI is expected to come before the bell on Wednesday, and the PPI on Thursday.
The two inflation reports could provide further clues as to the size of the rate cut at this month's Federal Reserve meeting. It is widely expected the Fed will start to trim interest rates at September's meeting.
Politics is also making headlines tonight, with Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris taking the stage on Tuesday to take part in the presidential debate.
"The only scheduled U.S. presidential debate is after U.S. markets have closed today. This is near enough to the election for investors to care. Investors’ focus is whether the debate influences election probabilities, and if the candidates offer new policy insights," UBS' Paul Donovan said.