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November retail sales due at 8:30 a.m. ET

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Tesla gains after Mizuho raises rating on stock

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Pfizer ( PFE ) up after in-line profit forecast for 2025

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Futures down: Dow 0.41%, S&P 500 0.28%, Nasdaq 0.08%

(Updates with prices)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Purvi Agarwal

Dec 17 (Reuters) -

U.S. stock index futures slipped on Tuesday, as traders

braced for retail sales data that will provide more clues on the

health of consumers ahead of an anticipated Federal Reserve rate

cut later in the week.

The U.S. 10-year Treasury note yield rose back

above 4.42%, an over three-week high, pressuring stocks, as

market bets strengthened on a more cautious Fed in 2025.

November retail sales data, due at 8:30 a.m. ET on the day,

is expected to show a rise of 0.5% on a monthly basis, according

to economists polled by Reuters.

Futures pulled back after a fairly strong session on Monday,

with the Nasdaq closing at a record high and the S&P 500

gaining ground.

Rate-sensitive megacaps were mixed in premarket trading,

with Nvidia ( NVDA ) down 1.5% and Microsoft dipping

0.4%. Tesla was up nearly 2.8% after Mizuho upgraded

the electric-vehicle maker's stock to "outperform" from

"neutral" and hiked its price target by $285 to $515.

A 25 basis point cut from the Fed on Wednesday is all but

priced in, but most see the central bank holding rates at its

January meeting, as economic indicators point to continued

resilience and inflation remains persistent.

"The consensus expectation is that investors will get

the extra holiday gift they want with another quarter-point

interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve," said Joe Gaffoglio,

president and CEO of Mutual of America Capital Management.

"However, if inflation continues to stay above target in the

new year, the markets may be too optimistic on how many cuts the

Fed may deliver."

However, expectations that the Fed might project growth in

the next year, taking into account potential policies of

President-elect Donald Trump's administration, brings the "dot

plot" high up on investors' radar on Wednesday.

U.S. stocks remain on track to end December on a positive

note with the S&P 500 set for its best year since 2019 with an

over 27% year-to-date rise, powered by gains in technology

companies, Fed rate cuts and optimism on the impact of Trump's

corporate policies.

At 7:00 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 179

points, or 0.41%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 17 points,

or 0.28% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 17.5 points,

or 0.08%.

Crypto-focused stocks continued to rally as bitcoin

surpassed $107,000. Hut 8 ( HUT ) rose 2.4%, while MARA Holdings ( MARA )

and Riot Platforms ( RIOT ) rose 1.6% each.

Pfizer ( PFE ) gained 3.1% after the drugmaker forecast 2025

profit roughly in line with Wall Street expectations.

Albertsons Companies ( ACI ) rose 2.4% as multiple

brokerages hiked their price targets on the stock and Telsey

Advisory Group upgraded it to "outperform" from "market

perform."

Affirm Holdings ( AFRM ) dipped 3.8%. The "buy now, pay

later" firm proposed a private offering of convertible senior

notes worth $750 million.