profitaddaweb.com.com-Wall Street futures pointed to a slightly lower open on Tuesday as investors returned from the Memorial Day weekend and the SP 500 and Nasdaq Composite hovered near record highs with market focus on economic reports later in the session.
The blue-chip Dow futures slipped 25 points, or 0.12%, at 6:55AM ET (10:55GMT), the SP 500 futures lost 4 points, or 0.16%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 4 points, or 0.06%.
On the data front, and with the Federal Reserve (Fed) set to announce its policy decision in about two weeks time, attention will likely focus on the core PCE price index out at 8:30AM ET (12:30GMT).
Generally considered to be the Fed's favorite inflation indicator, the annualized reading is expected to have dropped to 1.5% in April, from the prior 1.6% increase.
According to Fed Rate Monitor Tool, markets were currently pricing in the odds a June rate hike at around 76%, although some experts warned that weak inflation figures could still stay the central bank's hand.
The monthly jobs report is set for release on Friday and while the labor market is considered to be at full employment, analysts suggested to pay close attention to the annualized reading of wage inflation as the key point that the Fed will be watching before making its next move.
Also out at 8:30AM ET (12:30GMT), the Commerce Department is due to release data on personal income and expenditure, which is expected to show a pickup in spending and income.
Furthermore, the Conference Board is to report on consumer confidence for May at 10:00AM ET (14:00GMT).
The April report showed that U.S. consumer confidence declined after increasing sharply in the previous two months, but remained at strong levels, with focus remaining on when the soft data will eventually pass over to hard data readings.
Meanwhile,oil prices fell on Tuesday as concerns about oversupply continued to weigh, despite the American summer driving season getting underway.
Oil remained under pressure amid doubts over whether a decision by OPEC to extend a pledge to cut output until the end of the first quarter of 2018 will be enough to reduce a massive global supply glut.
crude oil futures fell 0.42% to $49.59 at 6:57AM ET (10:57GMT), while Brent oil traded down 0.72% to $52.25.
