U.S. stock futures declined Tuesday as traders braced for a potentially tough month ahead after a strong but volatile August. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 197 points, or 0.5%. S&P 500 futures lost 0.5%, and Nasdaq-100 futures fell 0.6%. U.S. markets were closed Monday due to the Labor Day holiday. The major averages are coming off a winning session, securing a gain for major averages in the month. Notably, the S&P 500 clinched its fourth straight winning month. Those moves came after a steep sell-off to begin the month. Concern over the U.S. economy falling into a recession, along with the unwinding of a popular hedge fund trade involving the Japanese yen, sent stocks tumbling in early August. At one point, the S&P 500 was down more than 7% for the month before recovering. “August got off to an incredibly rough start,” wrote Deutsche Bank macro strategist Henry Allen. “But after August 5, calm began to return to markets. In part, that was helped by more positive data on the US economy, which helped to ease fears about an imminent recession.” Investors will get their first major economic report of the month on Friday, when the U.S. government releases the August jobs report. Wall Street will also have to contend with seasonal headwinds, as September has been the worst month on average for the S&P 500 over the last 10 years. U.S. Treasury yields held steady Tuesday as markets reopened after the Labor Day holiday and investors looked to key economic data slated for the week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury yield was last trading at 3.915% after rising less than 1 basis point. The 2-year Treasury yield was last up less than 1 basis point at 3.935%. Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell on Tuesday as investors assess South Korea’s August inflation numbers, which eased to its lowest level on a year-on-year basis since March 2021. South Korea’s Kospi was 0.61% lower at 2,664.63, and the small cap Kosdaq dipped 1.15% to 760.37. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was marginally down, closing at 38,686.3, but the Topix was 0.64% higher, finishing at 2,733.27. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was also down 0.08%, ending the day at 8,103.2. Mainland China’s CSI 300 rose 0.26%, bouncing up from a seven-month low on Monday, closing at 3,273.49 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 0.18% as of its final hour of trade. U.S. crude oil futures fell more than 1% on Tuesday, largely returning to where they were at the end of last year, as OPEC+ is poised to increase production in coming weeks and China’s economy remains soft. OPEC+ delegates have indicated that the group is still planning to increase oil production in October, sources told Reuters and Bloomberg. Manufacturing in China, meanwhile, fell to a six-month low in August, according to data released over the weekend. China is the world’s second-largest importer of crude oil. West Texas Intermediate October contract: $72.45 per barrel, down $1.10, or 1.48%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil has gained 1%. Brent December contract: $75.17 per barrel, down $1.56, or 2.03%. Year to date, the global benchmark has dropped 2.4%. Gold prices edged higher on Tuesday on optimism that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this month as attention shifted to upcoming jobs data which could provide more insights into the size of rate cuts. Spot gold rose about 0.2% to $2,504.02 per ounce, having hit more than one-week low in the last session on a firmer dollar. U.S. gold futures rose 0.3% to $2,535.90.