Stock futures are up slightly as fears mount over upcoming interest rate hikes

There's too much market optimism for the time from a Fed pause to pivot, says Liz Ann Sonders

Stock futures are trading up slightly Monday night as investors tried to shake the previous session’s selloff.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 35 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures both gained 0.1%.

Monday’s close marked a negative start to the trading week. The Nasdaq Composite led the downward charge, dropping 1.93% to end the session at 11,239.94. The S&P 500 shed 1.79% to end at 3,998.84, followed by the Dow’s 1.4%, or 482.78 points, slide to 33,947.10.

Better-than-expected November ISM Services data, which looks at the purchasing level of manufacturers as a gauge the health of the broader economy, pressured equities. That’s because investors grew increasingly wary that the Federal Reserve will need to hike interest rates for longer than previously anticipated to have the intended goal of bringing down inflation.

The release aligns with the payrolls report late last week in pointing to a resilient economy. But those pieces add to what Dan Greenhaus, chief strategist at Solus Alternative Asset Management, called a more “mixed” bag of data that’s given investors conflicting signals about the state of the economy.

Market observers are still largely expecting a 50 basis point increase to interest rates at the Fed’s December meeting. But Greenhaus said investors are conflicted how on long the central bank’s interest rate hiking campaign will need to last, especially given the recent data showing the economy remains strong in some areas.

“From a markets standpoint, I think you’re still wrestling with the days of moving past the days of 75 basis point hikes,” Greenhaus said on CNBC”s “Closing Bell: Overtime.” “And now you’re really focusing on, ‘How high do we really have to go to bring all the inflation down?'”

Investors will look ahead to data Tuesday morning on international trade for insight into the strength of the U.S. and global economy. Later in the day, they will watch for post-bell earnings reports from Smith & Wesson and Stitch Fix.