Wall Street pointed modestly lower Wednesday as markets remain anxious about lingering inflation and the potential for fewer interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were both down about 0.

Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, deriving optimism from rising technology stocks on Wall Street, led by Nvidia. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 2.4% in morning trading to 40,248.68. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slid 0.

A soft finish to 2024 still left stocks with a second straight stellar year. The S&P 500 logged a 23.3% gain, which follows a 24% rise in 2023. The combined gains of more than 53% was the largest two-year percentage jump for the index since year-end 1998,