By Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal
(Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures were mixed on Tuesday ahead of the first of multiple labor market reports this week, a day after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pushed back against market expectations for outsized interest rate cuts.
At an economics conference on Monday Powell reiterated that the central bank is likely to reduce borrowing costs by an additional 50 basis points by year-end, based on data that pointed to robust consumer spending and gross domestic income.
Traders, who were divided over the size of the Fed's upcoming interest rate cuts, are now pricing in a 25 bps reduction at the November meeting with a 60.2% probability, compared with 41.8% a week ago, as per the CME Group's (NASDAQ:CME) FedWatch Tool.
With inflation nearing the central bank's 2% target, focus is squarely on the labor market, the mandate the Fed is focused on after kicking off its monetary policy easing cycle in September.
All eyes are on August's job openings and labor turnover survey (JOLTS) due at 10 a.m. ET, along with the Institute for Supply Management's estimate for manufacturing activity in September.
"Given that Powell thinks inflation has been conquered, a surprise in the employment reports could still alter the Fed's course," analysts at Rabobank said in a note.
"After all, it's not preset. For example, very poor employment growth or a jump in the unemployment rate could still push the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) to make a 50 bps cut."
At 7:07 a.m., Dow E-minis were down 72 points, or 0.17%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 4 points, or 0.07%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 56.5 points, or 0.28%.
Comments from Fed Presidents Raphael Bostic, Thomas Barkin, and Susan Collins, alongside Governor Lisa Cook, will be parsed for their insights on the economy and the monetary policy outlook.
Wall Street's three main indexes closed September higher, bucking a historical trend where equities' performance have been weak on average during the month. The benchmark S&P 500 and blue-chip Dow notched their fifth straight month in gains and closed near record highs in the previous session.
Markets also monitored a port strike on the East Coast and the Gulf Coast halting the flow of about half the nation's ocean shipping.
Retailers account for half of all container shipping volumes and shares of Designer Brands (NYSE:DBI), Costco (NASDAQ:COST), Walmart (NYSE:WMT) were little changed in premarket trading.
Boeing (NYSE:BA) dipped marginally after a report said the planemaker is considering raising at least $10 billion by selling new stock.
CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) added 2% after a report showed the healthcare firm is exploring options that could include a break-up of the company to separate its retail and insurance units.
McCormick (NYSE:MKC) was up 2.5% after the hot sauce maker raised annual forecasts and beat third-quarter estimates.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) was flat ahead of reporting third-quarter deliveries on Wednesday, with analysts expecting an 8% jump from a year ago.