US pre-open: Futures higher ahead of PPI reading

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Thursday as traders patiently awaited more inflation data following yesterday's consumer price index. As of 1200 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.21%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.20% and 0.17% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 124.75 points higher on Wednesday after a late-day tech rally lifted stocks from their session lows.

Thursday's primary focus will be last month's producer price index at 1330 BST, with economists expecting to see a 0.2% month-on-month rise in both the headline and core readings.

Scope Markets' Joshua Mahony said: " While traders have been weighing up the possibility of a 50-basis point rate cut next week, that appears to have largely gone out the window after a core CPI metric that posted the highest monthly figure since April. Nonetheless, while a bumper 50bp move appears to be largely disregarded, a calm cut from the Fed does ease the perception that the US economy is heading for recession and in need of drastic support.

"[With] less than a week until the Fed cuts rates, the rise we are seeing in US stocks does allay fears of a deeper slump in equities as we head through the notoriously difficult September period. Nonetheless, with the US election less than two-months away, historical trends would indicate that we may have to wait until that political uncertainty is cleared before seeing the bulls take full control once again."

Elsewhere on the macro front, weekly jobless claims numbers from the Labor Department will be out at 1330 BST, while the Federal Government's monthly budget statement will follow at 1900 BST.

In the corporate space, Kroger and Adobe were both slated to post earnings on Thursday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com