Stock markets today: Dow futures slip, S&P 500 steady with new data on the day

U.S. stock futures traded mixed on Tuesday to start the new quarter, as investors awaited new jobs and manufacturing data to signal the path to interest rate cuts.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) fell 0.2%, while S&P 500 futures (ES=F) settled just below the flatline, each approaching new records. Tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) contracts were also little changed.

Stocks are getting off to a volatile start to October and the fourth quarter as the market digests Jerome Powell's recent comments. The Federal Reserve chair said policymakers were in no rush to cut rates even as they tried to keep the economy on a firmer footing, prompting traders to reduce bets on another 0.5% cut.

Read more: What Fed Rate Cuts Mean for Bank Accounts, CDs, Loans and Credit Cards

With the Fed's focus now firmly on the labor market, those bets could reset if a softer-than-expected August job openings report comes later. Updates on manufacturing activity from ISM and S&P Global may also draw attention for signals about how fast the US economy is slowing.

The readings will set the stage for the release of the September jobs report on Friday, the highlight of a week full of closely watched economic data. Investors are looking for confirmation that the US economy is cooling rather than collapsing.

Meanwhile, a strike by dockworkers on the East and Gulf coasts had begun, threatening to shut down half of the ocean shipping in the United States. Disruption from large-scale shutdowns could cost the economy billions of dollars a day, raise inflation and put jobs at risk, as well as reverberate through US politics.

Investors were keeping an eye on geopolitical developments in the Middle East after Israeli troops moved into Lebanon.