Stock Market Today: Investors Await Inflation Data; Dow Futures Waver

Stock futures are broadly steady early Thursday, after major indexes eked out small gains in the previous session.

The day’s big data point: the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures index, due at 0830 a.m. ET. Core prices likely rose 0.2% in July from a month earlier, the same pace as in June, according to consensus forecasts.