Dow Futures Rise After Inflation Cools
Stocks were set to edge higher on Wednesday, having racked up solid gains the previous session thanks to a cooler-than-expected inflation reading and news of artificial intelligence investments from Saudi Arabia.
Futures tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 21 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures were flat, the day after the blue-chip gauge erased its losses for the year. Contracts tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 climbed 0.1%.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both rose Tuesday after AI chip maker Nvidia said it would partner with Saudi Arabia’s state-backed Humain on a 500 megawatt data-center project. Investors will be hoping that’s a sign of things to come from President Donald Trump.
“With the President in the Middle East, various stories on AI supported a huge tech-led rally… He’s clearly in a mood to do deals so watch out for more on his trip,” Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid said.
The April inflation print also gave markets a boost, as the consumer price index rose just 2.3% from a year ago for its lowest reading since 2021. That kept alive investors’ hopes that the Federal Reserve would be able to cut interest rates at some point this year, although subsequent data will start to show the impact of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was flat at 4.472% on Wednesday. The U.S. Dollar Index slipped 0.2%, and large-cap cryptocurrency Bitcoin fell 1.2% to $103,642.