Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Rise Ahead of Key Inflation Data; Netflix To Buy Warner Bros. in $83B Deal

U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Friday ahead of a key inflation report that will be some of the last data Fed officials see before making their final interest rate call of the year.

Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.1% in early trading. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 contracts gave up earlier gains to trade flat. The major indexes finished Thursday’s session little changed after seesawing between small gains and losses throughout the day. The Dow and S&P 500 sit within 1% of all-time highs. The Nasdaq has about 2% to climb to set a new record.

Investors on Friday were awaiting the publication of September’s Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. Economists expect inflation held steady at 2.9% in September, while core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, is expected to have accelerated to 2.8% from 2.7% in August.

Friday’s inflation data and labor market reports from earlier this week will factor into deliberations when members of the Federal Reserve’s policy committee meet for the final time this year next Tuesday and Wednesday. Investors expect officials to lower their policy rate by a quarter percentage point on Wednesday.

In corporate news, Netflix (NFLX) beat out Paramount Skydance (PSKY) in a bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). The deal, which values the storied movie studio and its HBO Max streaming service at nearly $83 billion, could reshape the entertainment industry, but is also expected to draw scrutiny from regulators. Netflix stock was down about 2% in early trading, as was Paramount Skydance. Warner Bros. Discovery shares were little changed.

Major tech stocks were mostly higher in early trading. Nvidia (NVDA), Alphabet (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta Platforms (META) all ticked less than 1% higher, while Tesla (TSLA) was unchanged, and Apple (AAPL) shares were marginally lower. The tech giants have regained some of their losses from a volatile November, but most remain well below their recent highs.

Treasury yields were mostly higher Friday morning, with the 10-year Treasury yield, which influences interest rates on a variety of commercial and consumer loans, at 4.12% after closing yesterday at 4.1%.

Gold futures rose 0.3% to $4,255 an ounce, while West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, were unchanged at $59.65 a barrel.

Bitcoin was recently trading at $91,200, down slightly from overnight highs above $92,000 and well off its record of more than $125,000. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of foreign currencies, was flat at 99.