Stock futures were little changed on Tuesday morning ahead of the highly anticipated release of July inflation data.
Futures tied to the S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow Jones Industrial Average were down fractionally in recent trading. Major indexes are coming off a slightly lower finish on Monday, after posting their biggest weekly gains since June last week. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite touched a new record high yesterday before losing ground in the afternoon, while the benchmark S&P 500 enters today’s session about 0.3% away from its first record close since July 28.
Investors will be focused this morning on the July consumer price index, which is due to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The report is expected to show that inflation accelerated to an annual rate of 2.8% in July, up from 2.7% the month before, as tariffs pushed up prices for consumers, according to economists. A reading above that level could squash investor hopes that the Federal Reserve will be in a position to cut interest rates at its next policy committee meeting in September. Expectations for rate cuts, along with reduced concerns about the impact of tariffs and the economic outlook, have helped boost stocks to record-high levels recently.
Shares of the world’s largest technology companies, which have an outsized influence on the broader market, were mixed this morning. Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOG) and Amazon (AMZN) fell slightly, while Microsoft (MSFT), Meta Platforms (META), Broadcom (AVGO) and Tesla (TSLA) inched higher.
Among noteworthy movers this morning, shares of embattled chipmaker Intel (INTC) were up more than 3%, adding to yesterday’s gain of nearly 4%, after CEO Lip-Bu Tan met with President Donald Trump at the White House. Trump, who on Friday had called for the CEO to step down, said late Monday in a post on Truth Social that Tan’s success is “an amazing story,” adding that Cabinet members will be having more meetings with Tan in the coming days.
Shares of Circle Internet Group (CRCL) rose nearly 7% ahead of the bell after the USDC stablecoin issuer released a solid earnings report. It was Circle’s first earnings report as a publicly traded company, after carrying out an IPO in June.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, notably mortgages, was at 4.29% this morning, up from 4.27% at yesterday’s close. The yield fell as low as 4.18% last week, its lowest level in three months, as market expectations for interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve increased.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the performance of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, was up 0.1% to 98.58 in recent trading.
Bitcoin was also little changed from Monday afternoon, trading at $118,500. Bitcoin had jumped as high as $122,300 early Monday, not far from its record high of $123,200 set in mid-July.
Gold futures were down 0.3% at $3,395 an ounce, after hitting a record high late last week of just above $3,500. The price of the precious metal, which had been supported in part by reports that gold bars would be subject to tariffs, fell sharply after the White House said that gold imports would not be subject to import levies.
West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, fell 0.7% to $63.50 per barrel. Oil prices, which stabilized yesterday after seven straight days of declines, are trading at their lowest levels since early June.