Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Stock futures are up modestly on Wednesday as investors eye inflation data and earnings in the coming days that could provide a glimpse into the future health of the economy.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 48 points, or 0.16%. Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.15%, while futures linked to the S&P 500 gained 0.18%.
The action follows a day of minor ups and downs for the market as investors digested the minutes of the September Federal Reserve meeting. The minutes showed that the central bank is likely to keep raising interest rates until it sees inflation easing. But one comment led some to believe the Fed might instead slow, if not reverse, rate hikes if the financial market turmoil continues.
The S&P 500 fell 0.33% to close at 3,577.03. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.09% to 10,417.10. The Dow Jones slipped 0.10% or 28.34 points to close at 29,210.85.
“Fed speakers have also joined in since the last meeting with the message that its commitment remains solid, even as global financial fault lines show signs of stress,” said Quincy Krosby, LPL Financial’s chief global strategist.
Earlier in the day, the September producer price index, an indicator of inflation that includes wholesale retail prices, beat expectations. It rose 0.4% in September, ahead of the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 0.2%.
Investors will have more data to weigh on Thursday as CPI comes in the morning. Dow Jones consensus estimates show CPI up 0.3% in September versus 0.1% in August. That would bring the annual pace of inflation to 8.1% from 8.3%.
Despite what she called a lukewarm reaction to Fed PPI data and minutes, Krosby said markets could be tested if CPI prints come out higher than expected, particularly bond yields.
Household names incl Delta Airlines, Walgreens and Domino’s Pizza will report results ahead of Bell Thursday, which comes as part of a week marked as the start of a new corporate earnings season.
Weekly jobless claims data will also be released Thursday morning.
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