U.S. futures point to continued slump this week on Wall Street

Wall Street futures edged lower Wednesday ahead of new employment and wholesale price data with the Federal Reserve gauging its next step in its fight to cool inflation. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials slipped 0.4 percent and the S&P 500 fell 0.7 percent just over an hour before the opening bell. Stronger-than-expected economic data this week has dragged U.S. markets lower on the expectation that the Federal Reserve will be forced to remain aggressive with interest rates during its last policy meeting of 2022. This week, the Dow has fallen 2.4 percent, the S&P 3.2 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite nearly 4 percent.