US stock futures ticked higher overnight, eyeing a recovery from Wall Street’s tech-fueled sell-off as investors waited for the latest reading on consumer inflation that could help set expectations for the path of interest rates.
S&P 500 futures (ES=F) rose 0.3%, while those on the Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) gained 0.4%, looking to rebound after Oracle (ORCL)-propelled AI trade worries spurred another bruising session for tech. Meanwhile, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) edged up.
Wall Street is keeping watch for more signs of tech malaise after Oracle lost key backing for a $10 billion data center project, sending its stock tumbling Wednesday along with heavyweight names like Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (AVGO), among others.
Chipmaker Micron Technology’s (MU) earnings late Wednesday painted a rosier picture for AI demand, as the Nvidia (NVDA) supplier forecast next quarter’s adjusted profit to be nearly double what analysts expected. Shares jumped in after-hours trading.
Meanwhile, markets are waiting for Thursday’s report on the consumer price index for November, originally scheduled for Dec. 10. But as with Tuesday’s monthly jobs report, the inflation data could be less reliable than normal thanks to the US government shutdown. For one thing, month-on-month comparisons will be missing, given the disruption to the collection of CPI data in October.
That will make it more difficult to gauge the momentum of inflation. At the same time, the Federal Reserve seems more attentive to cracks in the labor market than to price pressures. On Wednesday, Fed governor Chris Waller signaled support for rate cuts before the release of the CPI update.
Read more: How the Fed rate decision affects your bank accounts, loans, credit cards, and investments
Given all that, markets are seen as less laser-focused on the inflation print than usual. On the jobs front, markets will get the latest weekly look at initial unemployment claims, but that data has also been subject to significant volatility in the wake of the federal shutdown.
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