(Reuters) – U.S. stock futures steadied on Thursday as investors awaited PPI data to gauge the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate path after the previous day’s inflation shock, while the prospect of Russia-Ukraine peace talks encouraged some risk-taking.
The focus will be on the January producer price index report, expected at 8:30 a.m. ET, with economists polled by Reuters expecting a monthly uptick of 0.3%.
A consumer price index reading on Wednesday showed the highest increase in prices in nearly a year and a half in January, underscoring the U.S. Federal Reserve’s messaging that it was in no rush to resume cutting interest rates anytime soon.
“While the Fed is cognizant of the pattern of early-year inflation strength, the print will do little to ease policymakers’ inflation anxieties, particularly given the context of accelerating labor demand, increased inflation expectations, and incoming tariff effects,” economists at BNP Paribas said in a note.
Responding to the uptick in inflation, U.S. President Donald Trump, who assumed office on January 20 and had campaigned on the promise of lowering prices, emphasized that the latest data should not be attributed to his administration.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell, on his second day of testimony to Congress, said the data was further evidence that the central bank’s battle with rising prices wasn’t finished.
Traders currently expect only one 25-basis-point interest-rate cut from the Fed this year, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Persistent signs of rising inflation could mean the central bank’s policymakers will be cautious about cutting rates at all this year. The last reading of the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, showed the fastest rise in months.
Meanwhile, Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had expressed a desire for peace in separate phone calls with him on Wednesday.
At 05:03 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 12 points, or 0.03%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 1.5 points, or 0.02%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 24.25 points, or 0.11%.
Most megacap and growth stocks fell in premarket trading, though Tesla was an outlier, advancing 2.5%.
Trade Desk dropped 27.1% after the ad tech firm forecast its first-quarter revenue below analysts’ estimates.
Reddit shed 14.3% after the social media platform missed market estimates for daily active unique visitors in the fourth quarter.
Cisco Systems added 6.2% after the network-equipment maker raised its annual revenue forecast.
Robinhood Markets jumped 15.7% after the trading platform beat expectations for fourth-quarter profit.
Farm-equipment maker Deere & Co, aerospace supplier Howmet Aerospace and ratings agency Moody’s are among the prominent companies scheduled to report earnings before the bell on Thursday.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
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