Dow Set to Open Up Ahead of CPI Inflation Report
Stock futures were rising Friday as investors waited for monthly U.S. inflation data and weighed up a series of developments on the trade front.
Futures tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 72 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures were 0.3% higher, and contracts tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 added 0.4%. All three of the major indexes rose on Thursday, putting them to the brink of new highs.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was unchanged at 4%, gold futures slipped 0.9% to $4,109 an ounce, and the dollar was up 0.1% against a weighted basket of its peers. West Texas Intermediate crude prices fell 0.3% to $61.58 a barrel.
The moves came ahead of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index report, which is landing less than a week before the Federal Reserve’s Oct. 29 policy meeting. Economists are forecasting that inflation picked up last month, but not by enough to prevent the central bank from cutting interest rates.
The majority of economic data releases have been suspended due to the ongoing government shutdown, which just entered its 24th day, but the BLS said earlier this month it would publish the report to allow the Social Security Administration to meet a deadline related to inflation-adjusted benefit payments.
President Donald Trump and China’s leader Xi Jinping are set to meet next Thursday, which has bolstered hopes that Washington and Beijing will be able to thrash out some sort of longer-term trade deal.
Canada should be so lucky: Trump wrote on Truth Social late Thursday that all trade negotiations between the U.S. and its northern neighbor were “HEREBY TERMINATED,” pointing to a television advert sponsored by the Ontario government that criticized tariffs.
Military equipment manufacturer General Dynamics and consumer goods company Procter & Gamble are both set to report before the opening bell.