Stock Futures Hover Near Flatline as Traders Eye December’s Consumer Price Index
Stock futures remained steady on Wednesday morning as traders prepared for the release of December’s consumer price index, a key indicator of inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 10 points, or 0.02%, while S&P 500 futures were marginally up and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.12%.
In the previous session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 221.16 points, or 0.52%, while the S&P 500 added 0.11%. However, the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.23% due to a pullback in tech names.
The moves came after December’s wholesale inflation report showed a smaller-than-expected increase of 0.2%. Investors are now looking ahead to the consumer price index reading, which is expected to rise 0.3% on a monthly basis and 2.9% over the prior 12 months.
The inflation reading will be a key consideration for the Federal Reserve as it makes its interest rate decision later this month. Fourth-quarter earnings season is also set to kick off, with several big financial services companies, including BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup, due to report their earnings.
“We do think earnings will be stronger,” said Jay Hatfield, founder of Infrastructure Capital Advisors. “The economy is strong in the fourth quarter. Usually, companies learn if they have a problem by then, and they’re probably going to be pretty optimistic about the future because the Trump administration is pro-business. So we think that most CEOs are pretty optimistic about the forecast for 2025.”