Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials shied away 198 points, or 0.5% to 41,455.
Futures for the S&P 500 lowered 26.75 points, or 0.5%, at 5,634.25.
Futures for the NASDAQ faltered 124.5 points, or 0.6%, to 19,498.50.
The major averages are coming off a winning session, securing a gain for the month. The S&P 500 rose 2.3% in August, marking its fourth straight monthly gain. The Dow advanced 1.8% and the NASDAQ gained 0.7% during the period.
Those moves came after a steep selloff to begin the month. Concern over the U.S. economy falling into a recession, along with the unwinding of a popular hedge fund trade involving the Japanese yen, sent stocks tumbling in early August. At one point, the S&P 500 was down more than 7% for the month before recovering.
Investors will get their first major economic report of the month on Friday, when the U.S. government releases the August jobs report. Wall Street will also have to contend with seasonal headwinds, as September has been the worst month on average for the S&P 500 over the last 10 years.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost 15 points Tuesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index moved lower 0.2%.
Oil prices slipped $1.46 to 72.09 cents U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices were down $1.40 to $2,529.