U.S. stock futures were little changed Monday as investors awaited this week’s final Federal Reserve meeting of 2023 for any signals on when central bankers will begin to cut interest rates. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered near the flatline. S&P 500 futures fell 0.04%, and Nasdaq-100 futures dropped 0.1%. Macy’s shares rallied 18% in the premarket on news the retailer has received a buyout offer for $5.8 billion. The Fed is expected to maintain the fed funds rate steady in the 5.25%-5.5% range. Chair Jerome Powell is also expected to reiterate his commitment to lowering inflation in his press conference on Wednesday. Already, the CME Group’s FedWatch tool is indicating that markets are pricing in a 45% likelihood in March that the Fed will lower rates by 0.25 percentage points. “Investors should hope that we stay higher, where we are now, for longer, and the Fed could just pause, snooze, for some time as the market adjusts to the higher rates we’ve had for the last year and a half or so,” Ken Mahoney, chief executive officer at Mahoney Asset Management, told CNBC last week. Investors are also looking ahead to key inflation data, which could impact market movements and rate-cut decisions made by the Fed. The November consumer price index is due out on Tuesday, while the producer price index is set for release on Wednesday. On the earnings front, Oracle will report on Monday, while Adobe will post on Wednesday and big-box retailer Costco Wholesale on Thursday. The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite posted a six-week winning streak on Friday, gaining 0.2% and 0.7%, respectively. The Dow, meanwhile, was flat for the week. U.S. Treasury yields were fractionally higher on Monday, as investors look ahead to this week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was 2 basis points higher at 4.262%. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was 1.4 basis points higher at 4.34%. China’s stocks reversed course to rise Monday after data showing persistent deflationary pressures from weak domestic demand pushed them lower earlier in the session. Japan’s stocks jumped on growing bets that its central bank might not hike interest rates next week. China’s CSI 300 index ended 0.59% higher at 3,419.45 after falling more than 1% earlier in the day, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 1% in the final hour of trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended 1.5% higher at 32,791.80, while the broad based Topix added 1.47% to close at 2,358.55. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 started Monday up 0.06% at 7,199.00, ending at a three-month high. South Korea’s Kospi closed 0.3% higher at 2,525.36, was last up 0.06% and the small cap Kosdaq was up 0.59% at 835.25. Oil prices dipped on Monday as worries persisted around crude oversupply despite OPEC+ cuts and softer fuel demand growth next year. Brent crude futures fell 43 cents to $75.41 a barrel by 1221 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 47 cents at $70.76. Both contracts jumped more than 2% on Friday but were down for a seventh straight week, their longest streak of weekly declines since 2018, on lingering oversupply concerns. Gold prices declined on Monday pressured by a firm U.S. dollar, as investors look ahead to several major central bank meetings and U.S. inflation data this week for further clarity on the interest rate path. Spot gold was down 0.4% at $1,994.70 per ounce. U.S. gold futures eased 0.3% to $2,009.10. The dollar rose 0.1% against its rivals, making gold more expensive for other currency holders.