Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures little changed ahead of PCE inflation data
US stock futures steadied on Wednesday after Treasury yields advanced to fresh multidecade highs and investors awaited the latest signal on sticky inflation.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) rose 0.4%, while those on the S&P 500 (ES=F) added 0.2%. Contracts for the Nasdaq-100 (NQ=F) traded at 0.2% after stocks fell fractionally the day before.
Stocks continue to be caught in the undertow of rising bond yields and volatile oil prices as the war in Iran enters its seventh month, keeping inflation concerns in play. Crude oil futures (CL=F, BZ=F) stabilized on Wednesday in the mid-$90-per-barrel range.
Traders pared back bets that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates at its October meeting to roughly a coin flip from over 70% odds a day ago. The bias moved ever so slightly toward a Fed hold, per CME Group, after New York Federal Reserve president John Williams said there was “no need for urgency” to raise rates in October, which markets viewed as a sign Fed rates could stay put.
The next test will come from the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, scheduled for release on Wednesday. Economists expect the “core” reading excluding food and energy will remain unchanged at 3.3% year over year.
Micron (MU) earnings after the bell will also offer investors insights into the state of the memory and AI market. Slim Jim maker Conagra Brands (CAG) reports results before the bell.
