US stock futures fall on pressure from inflation jitters, Fed comments

investing.com:

Investing.com-- U.S. stock index futures fell in evening deals on Wednesday, extending a decline in Wall Street as uncertainty over an upcoming inflation reading and warnings from Federal Reserve officials spurred increased risk aversion.

Investors remained largely fearful that sticky inflation will see the Fed keep interest rates higher for longer. Several Fed officials echoed this notion on Wednesday, and said more work was needed to bring down inflation. 

S&P 500 Futures fell 0.2% to 5,072.50 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 0.2% to 17,875.00 points by 18:11 ET (23:11 GMT). Dow Jones Futures fell 0.1% to 38,939.0 points. 

Wall Street indexes had closed lower on Wednesday, with tech stocks leading losses as investors locked-in profits after hype over artificial intelligence drove indexes to record highs last week.

But concerns over stretched valuations, particularly in tech, crept into markets this week, keeping U.S. stock benchmarks in a flat-to-low range for most of the week. 

The S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 5,069.76 points, while theNASDAQ Composite fell 0.6% to finish at 15,947.74 points on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1% to 38,949.02 points. 

Markets were now awaiting PCE price index data- which is the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge- due later in the day for more cues on the path of inflation and interest rates.

The reading, which is for January, comes after a hotter-than-expected consumer inflation reading for the same month.

Fed officials kept up their warnings over sticky inflation limiting the prospect of early interest rate cuts. Both New York Fed President John Williams and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic on Wednesday said that more work needed to bring inflation within the bank’s