U.S. stock index futures were under pressure Tuesday, with regional bank shares retreating, as investors readied for key inflation reports due later in the week and progress on the U.S. debt limit. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 69 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.3% while Nasdaq-100 futures fell 0.5%. President Joe Biden is set to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Tuesday afternoon at 4 P.M. Both sides have cautioned that the meeting is simply a chance to have a conversation, with definitive progress on raising the debt limit unlikely to be reached. Biden and McCarthy remain at odds over the House Speaker’s caveat that a deal on raising the debt ceiling be tied to spending cuts. Biden maintains raising the debt ceiling is non-negotiable. PacWest shares fell more than 8% premarket after a volatile session in which the regional bank rose more than 3%. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) dipped 0.8%, as investors continued to fret over the state of the U.S. banking system. Lucid, PayPal and Skyworks were all down after their quarterly reports were released. Meanwhile, Palantir jumped 20% on a strong earnings report and upbeat guidance. The moves follow a lukewarm session that left the three major indexes little changed. The S&P 500 finished 0.05% higher, while the Nasdaq Composite ended with a gain of nearly 0.2%. The Dow was the underperformer of the session, closing almost 0.2% lower. Traders are also looking ahead to April’s consumer price index report slated for Wednesday and the producer price index on Thursday for the newest data on the path of inflation. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on CNBC Monday afternoon that failing to raise the debt ceiling would be an “economic catastrophe,” and regulators are not close to any policies that would limit short-selling regional bank stocks. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index tumbled over 2%, leading losses in the region as investors further digested China’s trade data that included a decline in imports of 1.4% and a slowed growth in exports of 8.5%. Hong Kong-listed healthcare and basic materials stocks lead the declines as Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Monday. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite slid 1.1% and finished at 3,357.67 after marking the highest point in 10 months on Monday, and the Shenzhen Component also fell 0.9% to close at 11,125.02 on Tuesday. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.17% and closed at 7,264.1 ahead of the nation’s annual Federal Budget announcement, with watchers widely expecting to see the first budget surplus since the 2008 financial crisis. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.13% to end at 2,510 and the Kosdaq slid 0.76% to finish at 835.85. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.01% to end the day at 29,242.82 and the Topix closed 1.27% higher at 2,097.55, buoyed by basic materials and energy stocks. Oil prices fell Tuesday, relinquishing some of the strong gains of the previous two sessions with the market cautious ahead of U.S. inflation figures for April, which will be key to the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate decision. The Brent crude price was down 61 cents, or 0.8%, at $76.40 and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 58 cents, or 0.8%, to trade at $72.58. Both contracts had settled up more than 2% in the previous trading session. Gold prices edged up on Tuesday with focus on the U.S. inflation readings for hints on future U.S. Federal Reserve rate strategy as economic uncertainties prevailed. Spot gold rose 0.5% to $2,031.91 per ounce , while U.S. gold futures added 0.3% to $2,039.30.