US pre-open: Futures point to losses ahead of first session of the year

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were in the red ahead of the bell as the market comes off an unexpectedly strong year for major indices. As of 1230 GMT, Dow Jones futures were down 0.53%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.68% and 0.96% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 20.56 points lower on Friday but still managed to notch another winning week and registered an almost 14% gain for the year as a whole.

Interactive Investor's Richard Hunter said: "The stage is set for further gains, certainly in terms of historical trends which suggest that the momentum could spill over into January, but the initial tests of investors' mettle will come thick and fast during the month.

"January will also herald the beginning of the fourth quarter and full-year reporting season, where earnings growth could provide some initial optimism ahead of an easing monetary policy environment."

In focus before the start of trading, oil prices surged after US naval forces repelled an attack on a container ship in the Red Sea, with West Texas Intermediate up 2.46% at $73.41 a barrel and Brent crude 2.45% higher at $78.93 a barrel.

Also drawing an amount of investor attention early on Tuesday, the benchmark ten-year Treasury note was yielding 3.96%, up almost eight basis points, while its two-year counterpart was more than seven basis points higher at 4.325%. Falling bond yields helped drive much of 2023's strong late-year rally.

On the macro front, S&P Global's December manufacturing PMI will be published at 1445 GMT, while November construction spending figures were slated for release at 1500 GMT.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Tuesday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com