US stock futures drift lower ahead of more inflation cues, Fed speakers

investing.com:

Investing.com-- U.S. stock index futures slipped Monday, as a recent rally on Wall Street cooled in anticipation of more cues on inflation and the Federal Reserve later this week. 

By 06:55 ET (10:55 GMT), the Dow Jones Futures was down 75 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 Futures traded 13 points, or 0.3%, lower and Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 72 points, or 0.4%.

Wall Street indexes surged to record highs last week, and are course for a fifth consecutive month of gains, after the Fed signaled it will cut interest rates at least thrice this year, while persistent hype over artificial intelligence also drove investors into heavyweight technology stocks, particularly Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA).

Analysts are now flagging some near-term consolidation as traders lock-in profits. That said, all three indexes still remained largely in sight of record highs hit last week, and were sitting on a 4% to 10% rise so far in the first quarter of 2024. Quarter-end repositioning may also spur some weakness on Wall Street. 

Anticipation of more inflation data and signals from the Federal Reserve are also set to keep markets on edge.

Personal consumption expenditures data, which is the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, is due this Friday, when the market is on holiday for Good Friday. Given that the Fed recently reiterated its stance that inflation will drive the path of interest rate cuts in 2024, markets were on guard ahead of the reading.

While U.S. inflation has fallen considerably in the past year amid high interest rates, it still remains well above the Fed’s 2% annual target — a trend that has remained a major point of contention for the central bank.

A slew of Fed officials are also due to speak this week, with rate-setting committee members