Aug 26 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set for a subdued open on Tuesday, pressured by a rise in longer-dated Treasury bond yields as President Donald Trump's decision to fire a Federal Reserve governor renewed concerns about the central bank's independence.
Investors also awaited Nvidia's (NVDA.O), results and a key inflation report later this week for more insight on artificial intelligence and interest rate cuts - the two big themes behind recent market gains.
In an unprecedented move, Trump said he was removing Fed Governor Lisa Cook over alleged improprieties in obtaining mortgage loans, prompting investor unease about what it could also mean for the outlook on monetary policy just weeks ahead of the central bank's meeting.
Trump's action is likely to face legal challenges but, if successful, it would let him nominate a new member to the Fed's board at a time when he has called for lower interest rates.
"Before there were only been words and threats. Now the fact that an actual decision has been implemented, that has garnered the attention of the investment community more than before," said Peter Andersen, founder of Andersen Capital Management.
Despite lingering inflation pressures, traders have been pricing in a 25-basis-point interest rate cut for September, encouraged by dovish signals from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, data pointing to labor market weakness and the likelihood that Trump nominee Stephen Miran could fill up a recent central bank vacancy.
"It is a very challenging defense to argue for a rate cut currently... because the economic data does not uniformly indicate that the economy is under great pressure and warrants a cut," Andersen said.
Key upcoming inflation and jobs reports could prompt investors to reassess rate-cut expectations.
At 08:48 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 43 points, or 0.09%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 4.75 points, or 0.07%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 20.5 points, or 0.09%.
U.S. 10-year and 30-year Treasuries also fell and the dollar declined against major currency pairs. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
Nvidia's results on Wednesday will be a major catalyst for U.S. stocks that have rallied over the past few years on the potential earnings growth from AI. Investors will also look for details on how the recent revenue-sharing deal with the U.S. government could impact forecasts.
The AI enthusiasm has also pushed up valuations of Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX), to above long-term averages, heightening the risk of a selloff in case the chip giant falls short of market expectations.
Nvidia's shares were marginally higher in premarket trading.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O), gained 2.6% after Truist Securities upgraded the chip stock to "buy" from "hold".
Interactive Brokers (IBKR.O), rose 3% as the trading platform is set to join the S&P 500 before markets open on August 28.
EchoStar (SATS.O), jumped 72% after telecom giant AT&T (T.N), said it has agreed to buy certain wireless spectrum licenses from the satellite communications firm for about $23 billion.
Meanwhile, data showed new orders for manufactured capital goods increased more than expected in July. Investors will also focus on remarks from Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin.
Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Sanchayaita Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath
