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U.S. equity futures moved higher in early Thursday trading as Wall Street looks to extend its five-day winning streak amid optimism that Federal Reserve rate cuts and a resilient domestic economy will continue to support corporate profit growth.
Stocks ended firmly high Wednesday, powered in part by a muted July inflation report that showed headline price pressure falling below the 3% mark for the first time since the spring of 2021, a move that likely cemented bets on a September Fed rate cut.
Related: CPI inflation report upsets betting on big Federal Reserve rate cut
However, prices pressures at the core level, which strips out volatile components such as food and energy, came in largely in-line with Street forecasts, clipping bets on an outsized rate cut when the Fed meets next month in Washington.
Stocks were also supported by one of the biggest declines in market volatility on record, with the CBOE Group’s VIX index falling more than 58% over the past seven trading days.
WMT) posting its second quarter earnings update prior to the opening bell.
The Atlanta Fed will also updates its GDPNow forecast later in the session, with investors looking for updates from its current-quarter growth estimate of 2.9%.
Related: Main Street businesses push back on Wall Street’s recession gloom
Heading into the start of the trading day on Wall Street, futures contracts tied to the S&P 500, which is now nearly flat for the quarter, are priced for a modest opening bell gain of around 9 points.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, is called 100 points higher while the tech-focused Nasdaq is set for a 60 point advance to start the session.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields were last marked at 3.847% heading into the start of the New York trading session, with 2-year notes trading at 3.964%.
In Europe, trading volumes owning to Assumption Day observances around the region, although the Stoxx 600 was open for dealing and was last up 0.19% in the mid-day session.
Britain’s FTSE 100, meanwhile, was essentially unchanged from last night’s close following GDP data showing a modest 0.6% expansion over the three months ending in June.
More Wall Street Analysts:
Overnight in Asia, stocks in China ended higher following a mixed set of July economic data, which included a disappointing reading for industrial output, that stoked bets for a new stimulus boost from the central government.
In Japan, a stronger-than-expected second quarter GDP reading of 3.1%, well ahead of the 2.1% forecast, lifted the Nikkei 225 0.78% into the close of trading and pegged the benchmark at its highest levels since August 1.
Related: Veteran fund manager sees world of pain coming for stocks
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