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U.S. equity futures edged lower in early Friday trading, tracking a modest nudge higher in short-term Treasury yields, as investors looked to close out the final full week of the third quarter with an eye on August inflation data prior to the start of trading.
Stocks closed higher across the board Thursday, powered in part by dovish signals on rate cuts from a host of Federal Reserve officials and the ongoing impact of China’s extraordinary fiscal and monetary stimulus, which has helped lift global stocks to the highest levels on record.
A better-than-expected reading for weekly jobless claims, meanwhile, as well as a firm final reading of second quarter GDP added to bets for a so-called soft landing in the world’s biggest economy, which was paired with another extended rally in heavyweight tech stocks.
Markets will focus firmly on today’s reading of the PCE price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge.
Olivier Douliery/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Focus on the Friday session will switch firmly to data from the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the PCE price index, which is expected to show only a modest monthly increase and could cement the case for another outsized rate cut in November.
The CME Group’s FedWatch pegs the odds of a 50 basis point reduction, a cut that would match the Fed’s September move, at around 50.8% heading into today’s PCE data.
Related: Here’s why stocks are soaring and the surprise autumn rally has room to run
Benchmark 2-year Treasury note yields, however, are edging higher, and were last marked at 3.627% heading into the start of the New York trading session, suggesting bond investors are holding on to residual concerns of a surprise inflation spike over the final months of the year.
Heading into the start of the trading day on Wall Street, futures contracts tied to the S&P 500, which is up 5.2% for the quarter, are priced for a modest 3 opening bell decline
Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, suggest a 5 point bump with the tech-focused Nasdaq called 30 points lower.
Stocks on the move include Costco Wholesale (COST) , which slipped 1% in premarket dealing after mixed set of fourth quarter numbers that included a rare miss on same-store sales for the bulk discount retailer.
Intel (INTC) shares were also active, rising 0.1% following a Bloomberg report that the chipmaker has turned down a bid from Arm Holdings for its product division.
More Wall Street Analysts:
Analysts revise Corning stock price targets after investor meetingAnalysts retool Carnival stock price targets ahead of earningsAnalyst revisits Costco stock price target, rating ahead of earnings
In overseas markets, European Stoxx 600 backed away from its early-session peak heading into the U.S. inflation data and was last marked 0.29% higher in Frankfurt trading. Britain’s FTSE 100, meanwhile, rose 0.45% in London.
Overnight in Asia, veteran politician Sanae Tackaichi won a leadership contest within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party that will pave his path to the Prime Minister’s office, a move seen as dovish for Bank of Japan rate projections.
That helped the Nikkei 225 to a 2.32% gain to close out the week, [putting the benchmark just a 130 points shy of the 40,000 mark.
More rate cuts in China, this time focused on bank-to-bank borrowing rates over seven and fourteen days, closed out a week of extraordinary measures from the People’s Bank of China and lifted the regional MSCI ex-Japan benchmark to a 1.21% gain heading into the close of trading.
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