Investing

Stock Futures Slide on Latest Inflation Data After Two Days of Record Highs for S&P 500


Stock futures moved lower Thursday morning after a closely watched inflation report revived concerns about the impact that tariffs are having on the economy.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were down 0.5% recently, while Nasdaq futures dropped 0.6% Futures had been pointing to a flat open before the release of the inflation numbers. Stocks are coming off a winning session on Wednesday, when the benchmark S&P 500 closed at a record high for the second straight day, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at a record for the fourth time in the last five sessions. The Dow enters today’s session just 0.2% away from its first new high since December.

Stocks got a boost earlier this week from consumer price data that showed inflation held steady in July, news that reinforced market expectations that the Federal Reserve will be in a position to cut interest rates at its next policy meeting in September. This morning, however, the Producer Price Index report showed that wholesale inflation in July was considerably hotter than economists had expected. The latest inflation news tempers, at least temporarily, the hopes for rate cuts, as the Fed would be reticent to adjust policy if inflation pressures are building.

Shares of the world’s largest technology companies, which have an outsized influence on the broader market, were mostly lower in premarket trading, though the moves were small. Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOG), Meta Platforms (META, Broadcom (AVGO) and Tesla (TSLA) each fell less than 1%, while Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon (AMZN) inched higher.

Among the big movers this morning, Deere (DE) shares dropped about 6% after the agricultural machinery maker released its quarterly results, while Coach parent Tapestry (TPR) tumbled more than 12% after a disappointing earnings report.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which affects borrowing costs on a wide array of consumer and business loans, was at 4.23% recently, down from 4.24% late Wednesday but up from 4.20% before the inflation numbers were released. The yield fell as low as 4.18% last week, its lowest level since early May, as market expectations for interest rate cuts by the Fed increased after a weak July jobs report.

Bitcoin was trading at $119,800 this morning, after surging to a record high overnight of $124,500. The digital currency surpassed its previous high of $123,200 set about a month ago.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the performance of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, was up 0.1% at 97.97, after hitting its lowest level in nearly three weeks yesterday.

West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, rose 0.5% to $62.95 per barrel, stabilizing after a two-week slump that has taken prices to their lowest levels since early June. Gold futures were down 0.3% at $3,395 an ounce.



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