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Futures down: Dow 0.38%, S&P 500 0.27%, Nasdaq 0.06%

Dec 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures dipped on

Tuesday, with rising bond yields adding pressure 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, 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,

are expected to rise 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 2.1% and Microsoft dipping

0.4%. Tesla was up nearly 3% after rallying more than

6% in the previous session.

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."

Still, 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 President-elect Donald Trump's corporate policies.

Dow E-minis were down 165 points, or 0.38%, S&P 500

E-minis were down 16.25 points, or 0.27% and Nasdaq 100

E-minis were down 13.75 points, or 0.06%.

Crypto-focused stocks continued to rally as bitcoin

surpassed $107,000. Miners Hut 8 ( HUT ), MARA Holdings ( MARA )

and Riot Platforms ( RIOT ) all rose more than 2%.

Albertsons Companies ( ACI ) rose 1% after multiple

brokerages hiked their price targets on the stock with Telsey

Advisory Group upgrading it to "outperform" from "market

perform."