US stock futures tilted lower on Tuesday as investors braced for a pivotal inflation reading and for JPMorgan (JPM) results to kick off the fourth quarter earnings season.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) nudged 0.1% lower, while those on the S&P 500 (ES=F) hovered below the flat line. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) were also little changed.

On Monday, Wall Street stocks eked out fresh record closes as investors largely shrugged off concerns about Federal Reserve autonomy sparked by a Justice Department criminal probe into Chair Jerome Powell.

Markets are in wait-and-see mode ahead of the latest reading on US consumer inflation, a key input into the Fed's rate-setting decisions. The December consumer price index is expected to offer the clearest picture of trends in months after the record government shutdown disrupted data reports.

The data takes on added importance after the December jobs report pointed to a cooling labor market. Traders see a 95% chance that the Fed holds rates steady in January, and are pricing in June for the first of two quarter-point cuts in 2026, per the CME FedWatch Tool.

The CPI report, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, is expected to show inflation pressures remained steady last month, with an annual headline rate of 2.7% and a monthly rate of 0.3%.

The watch is also on for JPMorgan Chase to lead out this week's rush of big bank results before the bell on Tuesday, firing the starting gun on earnings season. Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), and Morgan Stanley (MS) are set to post their fourth quarter reports in the following days.

Meanwhile, President Trump said late Monday that countries that continue to do business with Iran will face a 25% US tariff. The vow adds another layer of geopolitical uncertainty to a market already grappling with moves on Venezuela and Greenland, and promises to feed into the tariff pressures on prices.

Reuters reports:

Nvidia (NVDA) does not require upfront payment for H200 chips, a ​spokesperson for the U.S. chipmaker said in ‌a statement to Reuters on Tuesday.

The company said it \\"would ‌never require customers to pay for products they do not receive\\", in a response to a Reuters story on January 8 about the company ⁠having imposed unusually ‌stringent terms requiring full upfront payment from Chinese customers seeking its artificial intelligence ‍chips.

One source told Reuters that Nvidia's standard terms for Chinese clients have previously included advance payment requirements, ​but they were sometimes allowed to place ‌a deposit rather than make a full payment upfront.

Read more here.

Bloomberg reports:

BlackRock Inc. (BLK) is cutting hundreds of jobs across the company, becoming the latest Wall Street firm to rein in headcount in recent weeks.

The cuts total about 1% of BlackRock’s global headcount, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The reductions amount to about 250 employees firmwide and include members of its investment and sales teams, the people said.

“Improving BlackRock is a constant priority,” a company spokesperson said. “Each year, we make decisions to ensure that our resources are aligned with our objectives and that we are well positioned to serve clients today and in the future.”

The cuts come as Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink works to re-wire the world’s largest asset manager and push deeper into alternative investments. Since closing its $12 billion acquisition of private credit specialist HPS Investment Partners in July, BlackRock has been integrating its new executives and preparing to unveil a new range of funds for wealthy retail investors.

Read more here.