Sept 12 (Askume) – Wall Street futures rose on Thursday ahead of the release of economic data ahead of a possible rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week.
Most large-cap and growth stocks were up slightly in premarket trading, with Google parent Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O gaining more than 1%.
Reports on producer prices and weekly jobless claims are expected at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Initial jobless claims will be in focus as the Federal Reserve reviews the health of the labor market. Economists polled by Askume had expected the number to be 230,000.
Expectations that the Fed would cut interest rates by a modest 50 basis points had risen in the past few weeks amid weak employment and economic growth data, but those hopes have largely faded.
Following Wednesday’s inflation report , traders now see an 87% chance that the Fed will cut interest rates by 25 basis points at its September 17-18 meeting, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool. That would be the first rate cut since March 2020.
Wells Fargo analysts said: “Our base case forecast is for a 25 basis point cut in the federal funds rate at the September FOMC meeting and two 50 basis point cuts at the November and December FOMC meetings.”
“We believe the expected cumulative easing of monetary policy by 225 basis points over the next nine months will be sufficient to sustain the economic expansion.”
Nvidia (NVDA.O) shares rose 8.2% on Wednesday after reports that the U.S. government is considering allowing the company to export advanced chips to Saudi Arabia .
S&P 500 E-minis rose 9.25 points, or 0.17%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis gained 21.75 points, or 0.11%, and Dow E-minis gained 77 points, or 0.19%.
Futures tracking the economically sensitive small-cap Russell 2000 index rose 0.5%.
Gains in technology stocks on Wednesday offset investor disappointment after the release of inflation data.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq (.IXIC) closed more than 2% higher, while the S&P 500 (.SPX) was up 1% in volatile trading, helping the benchmark index recover from a 1.5% intraday decline.
US consumer prices rose slightly in August, but underlying inflation saw some stability. The core index, which excludes volatile food and energy components, rose 0.3%, compared with expectations for a 0.2% gain.
Vaccine maker Moderna (MRNA.O) tumbled 9% in premarket trading on Thursday after the company forecast sales of $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion next year, below analysts’ expectations.
