Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Tuesday as investors turned more cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s final meeting of the year and the Dec. 15 deadline for fresh U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports to kick in.
The blue-chip Dow futures were down 105 points, or 0.4% by 06:48 AM ET (11:48 GMT), while futures on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 also fell.
The losses came after Wall Street's main indexes ended lower on Monday as hopes for at least an interim trade deal ebbed.
Investors are focusing on global trade development with just five days to go before Washington is due to impose a fresh tranche of tariffs on imports from China.
The two sides are negotiating a preliminary deal aimed at de-escalating their 17-month dispute, but there has been near-complete silence from both governments on the issue in recent days, and the void has been filled by reports of both Beijing and Washington taking administrative steps to squeeze each other's companies: China has ordered the removal of all U.S. computers and software from government agencies, while the U.S. is reportedly drafting a bill that would exclude transportation groups CRRC and BYD from federal contracts.
Analysts said markets are still hoping for a delay in the deadline, while expecting more positive gestures from both sides.
Traders were also looking ahead to the Fed meeting, starting later Tuesday. The central bank is expected to hold steady at the conclusion of its meeting on Wednesday after cutting rates three times this year to shield the U.S. economy from a global slowdown.
The economic calendar is light on Tuesday, with only nonfarm productivity data and unit labor costs due at 8:30 AM and the Redbook retail survey due 25 minutes later.
The NFIB small business optimism index, released earlier, rose to a four-month high of 104.7, beating expectations.
Away from equities, the U.S. dollar index against a basket of currencies edged down to 97.50, while the yield on the 10-year Treasury was last trading at 1.80%.
In commodities, gold futures were up $5.95 at $1,470.95 a troy ounce, while crude oil slid 0.3% to $58.69 a barrel.
--Reuters contributed to this report