Futures muted as markets await rate cut clues; China stimulus boosts miners
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Visa slips after report DOJ to file antitrust lawsuit
U.S.-listed Chinese firms jump after domestic stimulus plan
Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures trade flat
Updated at 07:24 a.m. ET/1124 GMT
By Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal
Sept 24 (Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures were muted in choppy trading onTuesday, as investors scoured for clues on what the Federal Reserve's next policy move might be, while mining stocks got a boost after China unveiled abumper stimulus package.
The S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow closed at record highs in the previous session after a survey signaling steady business activity soothed concerns of an imminent recession, and as a number of policymakers supported further policy easing by the Fed.
"(Monday's data) suggested that the economy's strength was continuing into September, and that fears of a downturn weren't evident so far," analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a note.
"Investors are still completely split on the size of the Fed's next move ... so we might find ourselves with a real sense of deja vu over the coming weeks if that remains."
Yields on longer-dated Treasury bonds US30YT=RR, US10YT=RR rose as traders priced in a greater likelihood of the economy achieving growth with low inflation and unemployment.
However, with the benchmark index's valuations high above long-term averages and clarity still lacking about the size of the Fed's next move, some investors stayed away from big bids.
At 7:24 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were up 4 points, or 0.01%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were down 0.75 points, or 0.01% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 0.25 points, or flat.
The Fed's decision to commence its policy easing cycle last week sparked a market rally that has propped up Wall Street's main indexes for monthly gains and set on track to defy the historical trend of losses on average in September.
Fed GovernorMichelle Bowman's remarks are in focus on theday. She had voted for a 25 basis point rate reduction on signs of persistent price pressures, as opposed to the larger 50 bps rate cut the central bank delivered in the previous week.
Traders are pricing in the Fed's November decision to be a coin toss, with bets neither strongly favoring a 50 bps nor a 25 bps reduction, as per the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
On the data front, a survey, due at 10:00 a.m. ET., is expected to show consumer confidence improved in September from the previous month. Still, the main focus will be on Friday's Personal Consumption Expenditure figure for August.
Among top premarket movers, U.S.-listed shares of Chinese firms such as Alibaba BABA.N and PDDHoldings PDD.O added 5.4% each and Li Auto LI.O advanced 7.6% after the world's second-largest economy, China, unveiled its biggest stimulus since the pandemic to pull the economy out of its deflationary funk.
The upbeat mood also lifted copper and lithium miners.Freeport-McMoRan FCX.N added 4.5%, Southern Copper SCCO.N rose 4.2%, Albemarle ALB.N advanced 4.6% and Arcadium ALTM.N climbed 3.2%.
Visa V.N lost 2% after a report showed the U.S. Department of Justice plans to file a lawsuit against the payments network operator, alleging that it illegally monopolized the country's debit card market.
Starbucks SBUX.O dropped 1.6% after Jefferies downgraded the coffee chain to "underperform" from "hold", while Salesforce CRM.N rose 1.5% after Piper Sandler upgraded the software company to "overweight" from "neutral".
Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel
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