Futures bide time in lead-up to key inflation report

By Medha Singh and Shashwat Chauhan

(Reuters) -Futures for Wall Street's main stock indexes were range-bound on Wednesday, as investors refrained from large bets ahead of a key inflation report which could offer clues on the pace of interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

The July reading of the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI), due at 8:30 a.m. ET, is expected to show headline inflation grew 3% year-on-year, same as June.

Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq clocked their fourth straight session of gains on Tuesday following softer-than-expected producer prices data that indicated inflation continued to moderate, although it is yet to reach the U.S. central bank's 2% target.

A rebound in megacap and technology stocks have helped markets recoup most of their losses from a global market rout earlier this month that was partly caused by data showing a surge in U.S. unemployment rate in July.

Also, Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said on Tuesday he wants to see "a little more data" before he's ready to support lowering interest rates.

"Notably, inflation has undershot consensus forecasts from April through June, with both prices and wages coming in cooler than economists anticipated," said Stefan Koopman, senior macro strategist at Rabobank.

"We anticipate the Fed will cut rates in September, primarily due to the rising unemployment rate and as a precaution against a potential recession."

Traders broadly expect the Fed to begin its cycle of monetary policy easing at its Sept. 17-18 meeting but are near evenly split whether it would be a 25 bps rate cut or a more hefty 50 bps cut, as per the CME FedWatch Tool.

At 6:45 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 4 points, or 0.01%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 2.25 points, or 0.04% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 9.75 points, or 0.05%.

The Cboe volatility index, Wall Street's fear gauge, stayed below its long term average of 20 points for the second day at 18.33 after hitting its highest since 2020 just last week.

Megacap and growth stocks were mixed in premarket trading, with Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA ) outperforming, up 1.5%, while Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL ) slipped 0.9%.



A media report said the U.S. Department of Justice is considering options that include breaking up Google.

Kellanova surged almost 8% after family-owned candy giant Mars said it would buy the Cheez-It and Pringles maker in a nearly $36 billion deal.

Source: Investing.com