U.S. stock futures pointed to an extension of gains as traders seized on the more benign elements of a key inflation report.
What’s happening
- Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average YM00, +0.62% rose 190 points, or 0.6%, to 34447
- Futures on the S&P 500 ES00, +0.67% rose 29 points, or 0.7%, to 4384
- Futures on the Nasdaq 100 NQ00, +0.75% gained 124 points, or 0.8%, to 14888
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.00% fell 1 point to 34378, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.30% increased 13 points, or 0.3%, to 4364, and the Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.73% gained 106 points, or 0.73%, to 14572.
What’s driving markets
Investors focused on the more benign elements of Wednesday’s consumer price index report, which showed the core measure that excludes food and energy prices rising 0.2% in September, keeping the year-over-year growth rate at 4%.
Prices on air fares, hotels and used cars were among the costs that declined. “While that result owed to some weakness in prices sensitive to the virus – such as airfares, hotel charges, car rental fees and apparel – the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury TMUBMUSD10Y, 1.538% continued to descend from last week’s highs,” said Emily Nicol, economist at Daiwa Capital Markets Europe.
More inflation data is due for release Thursday with the producer price report, which in combination with the CPI data could show how much companies have had to absorb price rises instead of pass them along to their customers.
In China, producer prices surged 11% year-over-year in September, the fastest rise in more than two decades.
Earnings season continues with results from a slate of banks — Bank of America BAC, -0.92%, Citigroup C, -0.54%, Morgan Stanley MS, +0.81% and Wells Fargo WFC, -1.29%. Health insurer UnitedHealth UNH, +0.08% and pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance WBA, -0.34% also are scheduled to report results.