Dow, S&P futures little changed, Nasdaq lower

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[December 12, 2016] By Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) - S&P 500 and Dow futures were little changed while Nasdaq futures were lower on Monday, after the three major indexes registered fresh record highs on Friday.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., December 9, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
 

President-elect Donald Trump's expected agenda of economic stimulus and reduced taxes and regulations has fueled a market rally, with the S&P rising 5.6 percent since Nov. 8 to Friday's close.

Investors are keeping an eye on the U.S. Federal Reserve's last meeting for the year, beginning Tuesday, with a statement from Fed Chair Janet Yellen on Wednesday. The central bank is widely expected to raise benchmark interest rates, with market participants looking for clues about the pace of future hikes.

Traders are pricing in a 94.3 percent chance of a hike this month, according to Thomson Reuters data.

"The most recent 'dot plot' from the September meeting shows another two rate hikes are projected for 2017, which is in line with markets expectations, and investors are wondering if these dots are going to move higher when released on Wednesday," said Hussein Sayed, chief market strategist at forex broker FXTM.

The dollar <.DXY> rose to its highest since February against the yen on Monday as U.S. bond yields climbed on the back of expectations of broadly higher inflation, driven by a rise in global oil prices.

Oil rose by as much as 6.5 percent to an 18-month high after OPEC and some of its rivals reached their first deal since 2001 to jointly reduce output to try to tackle global oversupply and boost prices. [O/R]

Ophthotech <OPTH.O> slumped 78.3 percent to $8.40 in premarket trading after Novartis <NOVN.S> said a combination of its eye drug along with Ophthotech's did not produce better outcomes.

Oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp <XOM.N> and Chevron <CVX.N> were up 1.5 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively, after a jump in oil prices.

Futures snapshot at 7:06 a.m. ET (1206 GMT):

Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were up 17 points, or 0.09 percent, with 14,976 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis <ESc1> were down 0.5 points, or 0.02 percent, with 166,234 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc1> were down 20 points, or 0.41 percent, on volume of 12,813 contracts.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

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