Futures linked to Wall Street’s main indexes took a pause on Thursday after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended the previous session on a positive note, while investors awaited some more economic data on the day.
The Nasdaq soared past the 20,000 mark for the first time on Wednesday as the technology rally showed no signs of a halt, while the S&P 500 closed at its highest in nearly a week after an in-line inflation reading locked in a 25 basis point cut by the Federal Reserve at its Dec. 17-18 meeting.
“The decline in inflation seems to have come to a halt during the autumn. Still, we do not see any acceleration as at the beginning of the year, and inflation is also closer to the inflation target now,” economists at SEB wrote in a note.
“We don’t expect the latest inflation outcomes to stop a 25 basis point rate cut by the Fed next week, but a ‘rate pause’ in January seems likely (depending on how much the labor market slows down).”
Trader bets on the cut next week now stand at over 98%, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool. They had risen after a jobs report on Friday that showed unemployment rose last month despite a surge in jobs growth.
However, bets also indicate expectations of a pause in January after several Fed officials last week urged caution over the pace of monetary policy easing as the economy remained resilient.
Data-wise, a November reading of producer prices is due at 8:30 a.m. ET on the day that could further shed light on the state of the economy, alongside a weekly reading of jobless claims.
At 7:04 a.m. ET., Dow E-minis were down 74 points, or 0.17%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 12.25 points, or 0.2% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 75.5 points, or 0.35%.
Wall Street’s main indexes have set new record highs multiple times this year, thanks to a rally driven by heavyweight tech stocks that have exploited the euphoria around artificial intelligence and the Fed’s interest rate cuts.
U.S. equities capped off a remarkable November after Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election on the prospects of business-friendly policies adding to corporate profits, and have kicked off December on a broadly positive note.
However, analysts say that the incoming administration’s potential policies on tariffs could stoke fresh inflationary pressures.
Among significant premarket movers, Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) slid 11% after the Photoshop maker forecast fiscal 2025 revenue below Wall Street expectations on Wednesday.
Chewy (NYSE: CHWY) was off 2.9% after its top stakeholder announced a stock offering to reduce its stake in the pet products retailer.
Centene (NYSE: CNC) gained 1.9% after the health insurer forecast a better-than-expected profit for 2025.
