US futures falter ahead of PCE inflation

• U.S. futures were trading flat before the opening bell on Thursday.
• It is the last trading day of the first quarter before the markets close for the Easter holidays.
• The S&P 500 is poised for its best first quarter since 2019.

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U.S. futures fell before the opening bell on the final day of the first quarter of 2024.

S&P 500 futures fell about 0.1% just before 6 a.m. ET. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.15% and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.07%.

After a three-day losing streak, stocks rebounded across the board on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.86% to close at another record high. The Dow had its best day of the year so far, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.51%.

10-year U.S. Treasury yields were steady in premarket trading. The dollar rose sharply on Wednesday as the Japanese yen plunged.

Treasury yields jumped after Fed Governor Christopher Waller said there was no rush to cut interest rates and that he wanted to see “at least a few months of better inflation data” before cutting.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, rose 0.25%.

Thursday is the last trading day in the first quarter before markets close on Friday for the Easter holidays.

The S&P 500 is expected to close its best first quarter since 2019 with a gain of around 10%. The Dow rose 5.5% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 9.3% in the quarter.

Investors will pay attention to economic data on jobless claims, gross domestic product and consumer sentiment later.

The PCE, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, will be released on Friday alongside personal income and consumer spending data.

Waller's hawkish comments on Wednesday signaled greater caution about the upward trend in inflation than Powell expressed last week.

He said it would be “appropriate to reduce the total number of rate cuts or push them further into the future in response to recent data,” particularly calling recent inflation data “disappointing.”