U.S. stock futures traded steady near year-highs on Tuesday as key inflation reports showed prices remained steady ahead of the Federal Reserve's final 2023 policy meeting.
Dow Industrial Average futures rose 0.4%, while S&P 500 futures rose about 0.3%. Technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures rose about 0.5%, after all three major gauges closed at 2022 highs on Monday.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed that prices increased slightly by 0.1% compared to last month and 3.1% compared to the previous year in November, as reported here.
Investors are generally expecting a delay in interest rate hikes at the end of the central bank's two-day meeting. However, traders are taking a cautious stance by reducing their probability of a rate cut in March, based on CME FedWatch data.
While consumer inflation was expected to remain flat for the second consecutive month, the "core" reading that excludes food and energy prices proved otherwise. This will likely prompt investors to rethink when the Fed will lower rates.
In individual stocks, shares of Oracle ( ORCL ) tumbled more than 8% in pre-market trading after the software company's second-quarter sales results fell short of forecasts.
