(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Friday, a day after the benchmark S&P 500 breached the 5,000-mark for the first time, while investors looked ahead to inflation data for hints on the timing of the Federal Reserve’s first interest-rate cut.
The S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow both hit all-time highs on Thursday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed less than 2% away from its peak as investors cheered strong earnings, particularly from companies poised to benefit from the boom in artificial intelligence.
Investors will now focus on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ revised inflation figures for 2023, calculated using new seasonal adjustment factors – statistical weights that aim to reflect how prices behaved over the year more accurately.
The updated Consumer Price Index data will be released at around 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT), with new inflation data for January coming next week.
“This is something the Fed are watching, and Governor Waller explicitly mentioned these revisions in his speech last month, so it’ll be an important one for the timing of any rate cuts,” said Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid.
“I don’t think there’s any analytical reason to believe the bias will continue to favor higher H2 inflation over H1, but the market is a bit nervous after last year that the same seasonal adjustment pattern could repeat.”
Strong economic data and hawkish comments from Federal Reserve policymakers in recent weeks have pushed back traders’ bets that the U.S. central bank will start cutting rates in March.
At 5:43 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 9 points, or 0.02%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 5.75 points, or 0.11%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 52.25 points, or 0.29%.
The three main indexes were set for their fifth consecutive week of gains as upbeat earnings reports offset jitters around the interest-rate path and concerns about U.S. regional banks’ exposure to commercial real estate.
With the U.S. earnings season past the halfway mark, more than 80% of the S&P 500 companies have topped profit estimates in the fourth quarter, as per LSEG data. In a typical quarter, 67% of companies beat estimates.
PepsiCo slipped 1.3% premarket after its fourth-quarter revenue fell short of estimates as multiple price hikes crimped demand for its juices and Lay’s crisps.
Pinterest plunged 10.4% after it forecast first-quarter revenue largely below Wall Street estimates, a sign that it faces tough competition from larger social media players even as the digital advertising market stabilizes.
Cloudflare rallied 25.5% as it forecast first-quarter revenue and profit above market estimates, betting on strong demand for its cloud and content delivery services.
Expedia fell 13.9% after the online travel platform warned that revenue in 2024 would moderate as air ticket prices drop and said CEO Peter Kern was stepping down.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
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