Fed's favorite inflation gauge, European CPIs, OpenAI - what's moving markets
Investng.com — The week's inflation watch is nearly over, with key data from the U.S. and Europe due for release later in the session. Wall Street looks set to open lower, but is on track to register gains in February, while the turmoil at the board level of Open AI faces a potential SEC investigation.
The week’s main focal point is due later Thursday, January's personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price data, widely seen as the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.
Recent economic data releases, and the consumer prices release in particular, have prompted investors to push back bets on rate cuts by the Federal Reserve to later in the year.
Investors will be watching closely to see if the upside surprise seen in the January CPI is replicated, underlining Fed caution about the timing of rate cuts.
Year-on-year headline and 'core' PCE inflation rates are forecast to slip to 2.4% and 2.8% respectively, but monthly rises are expected to be a healthy 0.3% and 0.4%.
U.S. stock futures edged lower Thursday, as investors warily await the release of key inflation data as well as more corporate earnings.
By 03:45 ET (08:45 GMT), the Dow futures contract was 90 points, or 0.2%, lower, S&P 500 futures had dipped by 9 points or 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 futures had fallen by 35 points or 0.2%.
The three main indices closed lower Wednesday, but are on track to register gains this month after strong results from Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) seemed to remove worries about the sustainability of the AI-driven rally.
The Nasdaq Composite is on course to post a gain of over 5% this month, the S&P 500 has jumped 4.6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has added 2.1%. This would mark the DJIA’s first four-month winning streak since May
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