US stock futures moved higher on Friday as investors prepared for the August consumer price index report. Oil prices eased from recent highs, while Treasury yields stayed close to multiyear peaks. Markets remained cautious after Wall Street recorded four straight sessions of losses.
At 5:31 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis rose 276 points, or 0.53%. S&P 500 E-minis gained 0.54%, while NASDAQ 100 E-minis increased 0.57%. The gains followed another weak session on Thursday, when the Dow fell more than 300 points, the S&P 500 dropped 0.6%, and the NASDAQ Composite declined 0.7%.
Investors now await the August CPI report. Economists expect consumer prices to rise 0.4% from July and 3.4% from a year earlier. Core CPI is expected to rise 0.2% monthly and 2.4% annually. The data arrives after a hotter producer price index, which increased 0.4% in August and rose 5.4% from a year earlier.
The inflation readings come ahead of the Federal Reserve’s Sept. 15-16 meeting. Futures markets assign roughly a two-thirds to 70% chance of a 25-basis-point rate increase. Christopher Hodge, chief US economist at Natixis CIB Americas, said an inflation reading near expectations could reduce pressure on the Fed to raise rates.
Oil prices moved lower on Friday but remained above $104 a barrel for Brent and near $100 for West Texas Intermediate. Shipping activity through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen sharply, and markets continue to monitor Middle East tensions. Bill Adams, chief US economist at Fifth Third Commercial Bank, noted that the surge in energy prices creates new upside risk for inflation.
Treasury yields stayed elevated, with the 10-year near 4.94% after approaching 5% on Thursday. The 30-year yield reached about 5.3%. Higher bond yields can reduce demand for stocks as investors shift to lower-risk fixed-income assets.
Oracle shares jumped about 7% in premarket trading after the company reported stronger quarterly revenue and profit. Its cloud infrastructure sales more than doubled, and it added more than $30 billion in AI cloud contracts during the quarter. Remaining performance obligations reached $664 billion. Adobe shares fell more than 2% after issuing a fourth-quarter revenue forecast below Wall Street expectations, though its adjusted earnings of $6.13 per share beat estimates.
Nvidia gained in premarket trading, while ACV Auctions surged after Copart agreed to acquire it for nearly $1.9 billion. Friday’s market direction will depend heavily on the CPI reading as investors assess inflation, Treasury yields, oil prices, and expectations for the Federal Reserve’s next move.
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