The New York Stock Exchange is set to fall again on Tuesday morning, penalized once again by a bout of weakness in technology stocks against a backdrop of recurring concerns about interest rate trends.

Half an hour before the opening, futures on New York's major indices were down between 0.4% and 0.8%, pointing to an opening in the red.

Wall Street had posted its best session of the year yesterday, with a 2.2% rise for the Nasdaq Composite, driven mainly by the strength of semiconductor manufacturers.

Today's trading is likely to be more cautious, as we await Thursday's inflation figures and Friday's kick-off to the quarterly earnings season.

The growing uncertainties surrounding the Fed's rate-cutting timetable outweigh the desire to score a few bargains after the US stock markets' poor start to the year.

Investors have recently had to digest a series of rather solid economic indicators that have tempered the prospect of a rapid interest rate cut.

Cutting rates when asset prices are near all-time highs and the economy is at full employment, on a soft landing trajectory, can be a risky bet", admits Bruno Cavalier, economist at Oddo BHF.

General risk aversion is benefiting gold, which is back near all-time highs, and the dollar, supported by questions about the Fed's monetary policy.

At the same time, these doubts are pushing up yields on US Treasuries, which are trending upwards despite the volatility of equities, with ten-year paper once again rising above 4%.

Oil prices rebound, with uncertainty over the safety of shipping in the Red Sea more than offsetting Saudi Arabia's announcement of a price cut.

The February contract for US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) climbs 2.7% to $72.7 a barrel, while Brent recovers 1.8% to $77.5.

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