U.S. stock futures largely pointed to gains early Friday ahead of a summit between President Donald Trump and Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 321 points, or 0.7% S&P 500 futures were climbing 0.3% and Nasdaq 100 futures were broadly flat.
The Dow’s outperformance is likely to be partly driven by component UnitedHealth, which was up 11% in after-hours trading Thursday following the disclosure that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway had bought a stake in the health insurer.
Markets will still be digesting producer price index data from the previous day, which showed prices rose by a much higher-than-expected 0.9% in July, the largest monthly increase in more than three years. Markets are still pricing in a 93% chance of a quarter-point rate cut from the Federal Reserve in September but have pulled back on the possibility of a half-point reduction.
“Markets are clinging to the September Federal Reserve cut, perhaps as that is seen as making up for July’s hold now that the jobs picture has changed so dramatically,” wrote ING analyst Francesco Pesole in a research note.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note stood at 4.282%, broadly flat from the previous day.
Investors are now turning their focus to a meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska later with hopes for progress in ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict. U.S. data Friday include retail sales at and the University of Michigan’s consumer confidence survey.