Stock futures are rising Thursday after economic data on inflation cemented expectations for a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut next month.
Traders are now leaning slightly toward a quarter-point reduction from the Fed in September, having previously priced in almost 100% certainly of a bigger half-point move amid last week’s market turmoil, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
Key points to watch today include Walmart’s earnings and retail sales, both of which will give insight into the outlook for consumer spending, the biggest part of the economy.
Weekly jobless claims figures are also out today, which have gained in importance since traders latched on to them last week as a sign that the sky isn’t falling over the labor market after a previous report showed the unemployment rate rising.
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Stock futures were rising in premarket trading after economic data on inflation cemented expectations for a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut next month.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 77 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures were rising 0.1% and Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.2%. All three indexes finished higher on Wednesday after a report showed consumer-price inflation slowed to below 3% for the first time since 2021 in July.
Traders are now leaning slightly toward a quarter-point reduction from the Fed in September, having previously priced in almost 100% certainly of a bigger half-point move amid last week’s market turmoil, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
Key points to watch today include Walmart’s earnings and retail sales, both of which will give insight into the outlook for consumer spending, the biggest part of the economy.
Another potentially interesting data point today will be the weekly jobless claims figures. Normally they’re not that important, since they come often and can bounce around a lot. But traders latched on to them last week as a sign that the sky isn’t falling over the labor market after a previous report showed the unemployment rate rising. Economists expect the jobless claims figures to come in at 235,000, compared with 233,000 last week.
“A September interest rate cut is broadly expected, but the question of magnitude remains,” said ING Chief International Economist James Knightley.
The Hamas-Israel conflict in the Middle East also hangs over the outlook, with the worry that it could widen and further involve oil-producing nations such as Iran. More ceasefire talks are scheduled in Qatar today.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note stood at 3.846% early Thursday, little changed from the previous day. The yield on the two-year note was at 3.972%.
