Stock futures are falling to start the week with the Fed meeting, and headline inflation data on deck

US stock futures fell slightly on Sunday night a week ago with many predictable events in the ongoing battle against inflation.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 50 points, or about 0.2%. Those for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively.

The move comes in futures as investors will be Focus on inflation this week. On Tuesday, the Consumer Price Index for November will be released, and traders will be looking for a sign of slowing inflation.

The Federal Reserve holds a two-day meeting beginning on the same day. The central bank is expected to announce another rate hike on Wednesday, although traders are expecting a smaller move than in recent months.

In addition to an expected rate hike, the Fed’s updated economic outlook and Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference could be key signals of what the central bank wants to do in the coming months.

“Financial conditions have softened significantly since the October CPI reading was released last month, so the Fed will likely use the December FOMC meeting to push through this bac.K. …We believe the markets are very bullish on pricing after the first quarter and we expect Powell to take a more hawkish tone and point to higher rates for a longer period of time than what is currently being priced in by futures markets,” said Cliff Hodge, chief investment officer at Cornerstone Wealth.

Wall Street comes off a tumultuous week that saw it all Three major averages are losing ground. The Dow Jones fell 2.77%, its worst week since September. The S&P 500 fell 3.37%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 3.99%.