U.S. CPI looms; Coca-Cola, Shopify earnings ahead - what's moving markets

investing.com:

Investing.com -- U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street as investors await a much-anticipated January reading of U.S. inflation later Tuesday that could factor into how the Federal Reserve approaches future interest rate decisions. Elsewhere, Coca-Cola and Shopify are set to unveil their latest quarterly results, while the price of Bitcoin crests $50,000.

1. U.S. inflation reading ahead

Headline annual U.S. inflation is expected to have further cooled in January, although sticky prices for services are seen bolstering the case for the Federal Reserve to push out possible interest rate cuts.

Economists project that the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) decelerated to 2.9% over the year-ago period last month, down from the prior reading of 3.4%. When compared to December, the measure is estimated to have slowed to 0.2% from 0.3%.

Stripping out volatile items like food and energy, the inflation gauge is anticipated to have eased to 3.7% year-on-year and remain unchanged at 0.3% month-on-month.

The Fed has said that it wants to receive more evidence that the pace of price gains is «sustainably» moving towards its 2% target before starting to bring borrowing costs down from more than two-decade highs. The comment, which has been reiterated by Fed officials including Chair Jerome Powell, has all but dashed already waning hopes that the Fed would roll out rate reductions early this year.

But Powell has remained largely optimistic that the U.S. economy is on course for a so-called «soft landing» — a scenario in which inflation is successfully quelled without sparking a broader downturn in either growth or the labor market.

2. Futures lower

U.S. stock futures pointed lower on Tuesday as investors took a