Dow futures edge higher; key inflation data in the spotlight
Investing.com — U.S. stock futures rose slightly Wednesday, adding to the previous session’s gains ahead of the release of key inflation data, which could convince the Federal Reserve to shortly end its cycle of interest rate hikes.
By 07:10 ET (11:10 GMT), the Dow futures contract was up 30 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 futures traded 7 points, or 0.2% higher, and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 30 points, or 0.2%.
All eyes Wednesday are on the consumer inflation report for June, due for release at 08:30 ET (12:30 GMT), with investors looking for clues of the extent of additional monetary tightening the Federal Reserve will authorize this year.
Market participants have largely priced in that the Fed will hike in July as inflation remains above the central bank’s medium-term target, but a great deal of uncertainty still exists about how many more hikes are left in the tank.
The headline consumer price index is expected to have risen by 3.1% in June, after May's 4% increase, which would be the slowest annual increase since March 2021, with a 0.3% monthly increase. The annual core rate is seen falling to 5% from 5.3%, dropping for the third consecutive month.
Wednesday’s expected gains will continue the positive start to the new week, as the three benchmark indices closed substantially higher Tuesday on the back of comments from Federal Reserve policy makers suggesting that the rate-hiking cycle may soon be at an end.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained over 300 points, or 0.9%, while the broad-based S&P 500 closed 0.7% higher, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite up 0.6%.
More Fed officials are slated to speak Wednesday, including Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari and Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester.
In
Read more on investing.com
