U.S. stock indexes inched higher at the open on Friday ahead of a key inflation report that will be some of the last data Fed officials see before making their final interest rate call of the year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1% in early trading. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each advanced 0.3%. The major indexes finished Thursday’s session little changed after seesawing between small gains and losses throughout the day. The Dow and S&P 500 sit within 1% of all-time highs. The Nasdaq has about 2% to climb to set a new record.
Investors on Friday were awaiting the publication of September’s Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. Economists expect inflation held steady at 2.9% in September, while core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, is expected to have accelerated to 2.8% from 2.7% in August.
Friday’s inflation data and labor market reports from earlier this week will factor into deliberations when members of the Federal Reserve’s policy committee meet for the final time this year next Tuesday and Wednesday. Investors expect officials to lower their policy rate by a quarter percentage point on Wednesday.
In corporate news, Netflix (NFLX) beat out Paramount Skydance (PSKY) in a bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). The deal, which values the storied movie studio and its HBO Max streaming service at nearly $83 billion, could reshape the entertainment industry, but is also expected to draw scrutiny from regulators. Netflix stock was down about 4% in early trading, while Paramount Skydance shares slid 5%. Warner Bros. Discovery stock rose 3%.
Major tech stocks were mostly higher in early trading. Nvidia (NVDA), Alphabet (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta Platforms (META) all ticked less than 1% higher, while Tesla (TSLA) and Apple (AAPL) were little changed. The tech giants have regained some of their losses from a volatile November, but most remain well below their recent highs.
Treasury yields were mostly higher Friday morning, with the 10-year Treasury yield, which influences interest rates on a variety of commercial and consumer loans, at 4.11% after closing yesterday at 4.1%.
Gold futures rose 0.5% to $4,265 an ounce, while West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, were 0.2% lower at $59.55 a barrel.
Bitcoin was recently trading at $90,500, down from overnight highs above $92,000 and well off its record of more than $125,000. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of foreign currencies, was down 0.1% at 98.95.