U.S. stock futures retreated on Tuesday, with investors still focused on the path of interest rates as they braced for more big bank results after a lackluster start to earnings season.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials deleted 68 points, or 0.2%, to 37,724.
Futures for the S&P 500 fell 16.5 points, or 0.3%, at 4,800.
Futures for the NASDAQ slid 73.75 points, or 0.4%, to 15,895.50.
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley get earnings season going again after Monday's holiday shutdown. After Friday's results from Bank of America, and Wells Fargo failed to spark enthusiasm, eyes are on what the fresh reports show after challenging year for their dealmaking business.
Investors are counting down to Wednesday's retail sales report, as they track each release that could influence the Federal Reserve's data-driven policy thinking. Last week's surprise cooling in US wholesale inflation nudged up hopes for an interest-rate cut in March.
Focus will likely turn to Fed Governor Chris Waller's comments due later Tuesday for more clues, after Atlanta Fed chief Raphael Bostic and a top IMF official warned it's too early to declare victory on inflation.
In corporates, Tesla shares slipped after its CEO Elon Musk said that unless he has roughly 25% voting control at the EV maker, he'd prefer to build artificial intelligence and robotics products elsewhere.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 hesitated 0.8% Tuesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index dropped 2.2%.
Oil prices eked forward 60 cents to $73.28 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped $14.10 to $2,037.50 U.S. an ounce.