US equity futures hovered around the flatline on Tuesday, consolidating gains from the previous two sessions as investors continued to assess signals on AI-related capital spending, while weaker retail sales data pushed interest rates lower across the curve. Domestic retail sales for December came in sharply below expectations, highlighting a more fragile consumer during the holiday period and prompting rate traders to price in more than two Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year.
Markets now look ahead to delayed jobs and CPI reports due later this week for fresh insight into both sides of the Fed’s dual mandate. Alphabet traded slightly lower in the premarket despite securing strong initial demand for the first tranches of its large bond issuance program. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola fell more than 3% after missing fourth-quarter revenue estimates, and CVS slipped over 1% after issuing guidance for this year that came in below expectations. In contrast, Nvidia edged higher after TSMC reported strong January results, reinforcing the narrative of sustained global AI investment.
