Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., November 26, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Dec 1 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell on Monday as investors stepped to the sidelines and awaited economic data and remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to gauge the central bank's verdict on monetary policy when it meets later this month.

Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 and blue-chip Dow posted modest gains last month, as expectations of a December interest rate cut outweighed concerns about a potential bubble in artificial-intelligence-related stocks.

Still, the tech-heavy Nasdaq's November losses, its biggest since March, were a reminder that concerns around AI spending have persisted.

Monday will bring surveys by S&P Global and the Institute for Supply Management on manufacturing activity in the U.S. during November that could offer insight into the country's economic health.

Fed Chair Powell is scheduled to speak later in the day and traders will scrutinize his remarks for any clarity about his position on any upcoming interest rate cuts.

Despite most policymakers sounding a cautious tone, investors have latched onto dovish signals from a handful of key voting members and reports that White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett is a frontrunner to succeed Powell when his term expires next year.

Traders are pricing in an 87.6% chance for a 25-basis-point interest rate cut in December, doubling from late last month, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

The greater focus this week will be on a delayed September report on the Personal Consumption Expenditures Index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, due on Friday.

At 05:41 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 213 points, or 0.45%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 38.75 points, or 0.56% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 174 points, or 0.68%.

Adding to the caution on Monday were expectations that the Bank of Japan could hike interest rates in December to counter inflation and a weakening yen. Higher Japanese rates could strengthen the yen and consequently unwind carry trades that investors have extensively made use of given the low-yield.

Meanwhile, big-box retailers were in the spotlight as Cyber Monday sales kick off later in the day. Shoppers spent a record $11.8 billion online on Black Friday, up 9.1% from 2024 on the year's biggest shopping day, according to Adobe Analytics.

Shares of Walmart and Target were flat in premarket trading, while Nike slipped 0.3% and Dollar Tree was unchanged.

U.S.-listed crypto stocks were big losers as bitcoin fell back below $90,000, extending losses after its steepest monthly decline since the 2021 crypto crash.

Strategy fell 3.9%, Coinbase lost 3.6% and Bitfarms dropped 7.2%.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)