Updated 1 min read
US stock futures nudged higher on Thursday as Wall Street waited for the latest reading on consumer inflation to help set expectations for the pace of interest-rate cuts this year.
Futures on theDow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F), the S&P 500 (ES=F), and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) all gained about 0.2%, on the heels of a muted but record-setting session Wednesday.
Investors are bracing for an important test with Thursday’s report on the consumer price index (CPI) for August. Investors are on watch for signs of impact from President Trump’s tariffs on consumer costs, after the August reading on wholesale inflation came in cooler than expected.
Read more: The latest on Trump’s tariffs
The CPI report, due at due at 8:30 a.m. ET, is expected to show inflation remained sticky last month, with the annual headline rate rising to 2.9%, compared with 2.7% in July. But in a shift from the past, markets are expected to shrug off the persistent price pressures.
Bar a sizeable surprise, the print isn’t expected to dissuade the Federal Reserve from lowering rates at its meeting next week — even though a jobs slowdown shows policymakers facing risks to both sides of the Fed’s mandate. Traders see a 90% chance of a quarter-point reduction in September.
But the report has the potential to upend rising bets that more cuts will follow, depending on the picture it paints of the economy. An update on weekly jobless claims due later is likely to feed into those calculations.
On the earnings front, Kroger (KR) and Adobe (ADBE) are slated to report their results Thursday.
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Good morning. Here’s what’s happening today.
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Premarket trending tickers: Synopsys, Oracle and tech stocks
Here’s a look at some of the top stocks trending in premarket trading:
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) stock rose 3% before the bell on Thursday, rebounding after the chip-design software maker suffered its worst single-day decline on record on Wednesday after warning that US export restrictions are contributing to a slowdown in China.
Oracle (ORCL) stock rose 1% in premarket trading on Thursday after it soared more than 36% Wednesday, marking shares’ biggest daily gain since December 1992 and adding over $250 billion in market value to the company.
Tech stocks, Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (AVGO), which supply semiconductors used in data centers, were also marginally up following Oracle’s rally, extending gains from the previous session.
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Alibaba stock rises as it pursues $3.2 billion fundraising deal
Shares of Alibaba moved up over 2% in premarket trading on news that the Chinese e-commerce company is seeking to raise $3.17 billion in funds.
Bloomberg reports:
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Oil prices hold gains amid Russia-US discussions
Bloomberg reports:
