US Futures Steady After Sharp Selloff

US stock futures steadied on Tuesday after the major averages sold off during Monday’s session, as better-than-expected US services activity data suggested the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates for longer.

Futures contracts tied to the three major indexes drifted flat to slightly positive.

In regular trading on Monday, the Dow fell 1.4%, the S&P 500 dropped 1.79% and the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 1.93%, with all 11 S&P sectors closing in negative territory.

The November services activity data, along with the November jobs report released last week, pointed to a resilient economy.

Still, the market is expecting the Fed to deliver a more moderate 50 basis point rate increase at its December meeting, though questions on how long the central bank will need to tighten remain.

Investors now look ahead to US trade data that could throw light on the state of the global economy, as well as more earnings reports from US firms.