PPI and retail sales ahead, Arm prices IPO - what's moving markets

investing.com:

Investing.com -- Investors await the release of fresh economic data on Thursday, as Wall Street considers how a faster-than-anticipated measure of consumer price gains may impact future Federal Reserve policy. Elsewhere, debate swirls around the European Central Bank's own crucial interest rate decision later today, while British semiconductor designer Arm prices its hotly-anticipated initial public offering at the top end of its indicated guidance.

1. Futures rise with producer prices, retail sales ahead

U.S. stock futures pointed up on Thursday as investors looked ahead to new economic data and weighed the implications of a higher-than-expected inflation reading on Federal Reserve monetary policy.

By 05:26 ET (09:26 GMT), the Dow futures contract had gained by 52 points or 0.2%, S&P 500 futures added 12 points or 0.3%, and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed by 64 points or 0.4%.

The main indices on Wall Street were mixed in the prior session, with traders attempting to gauge whether Fed policymakers will pencil in one more interest rate hike this year following the release of the August consumer price index (CPI). The closely-watched measure of inflation in the world's largest economy accelerated to its fastest level in 14 months due to a surge in petrol prices, although the annual increase in underlying price growth was the lowest in almost two years.

According to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool, the U.S. central bank is still widely projected to keep borrowing costs at a range of 5.25% to 5.50% at its upcoming meeting later this month. But with indications of stubborn inflationary pressures emerging, markets are projecting a little over a one-in-three chance that Fed officials will opt to raise rates in either