For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window.
May PPI data, weekly jobless claims due at 8:30 a.m. ET
Tesla up as Musk says shareholders to approve his $56 bln pay package
Broadcom soars after FY forecast raise on AI chips strength
Futures: Dow down 0.34%, S&P up 0.1%, Nasdaq up 0.60%
Updated at 7:10 a.m. ET/1110 GMT
By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Johann M Cherian
June 13 (Reuters) –Nasdaq futures advanced on Thursday as chip stocks gained ahead of crucial inflation and labor market data that could sway expectations of interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.
Investor sentiment also gota boost from softer-than-expected U.S.consumerinflation data andFed Chairman Jerome Powell’s acknowledgement that progress had been made in tackling price pressures.
Benchmark Treasury yields US10YT=RR slid on Wednesday, helping the S&P 500 and Nasdaq .IXIC close at record highs. Solid gains in a handful of megacap technology stocks and expectations of a soft landing for the economy have been key factors behind the two indexes rallying this year.
Markets trimmed bets on a September start to rate cuts, with odds standing at over 60%, according to the CME’s FedWatch tool.
Despite the central bank projecting only one rate reduction this year, traders are pricing in nearly two 25 basis point cuts, according to LSEG data FEDWATCH.
“Ultimately, whether there are one or two rate cuts this year matters much less than the overall path of policy rates, the FOMC remains entirely data-dependent, but it acknowledges that policy must stop being restrictive before it harms the economy,” said Paolo Zanghieri, senior economist at Generali Investments.
“We do not think that the current meeting rules out our expectation of two rate cuts this year,” Zanghieri said.
UBS Global Research said it now expects the Fed to cut interest rates in December instead of September, while Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley continue to expect the first cut in September.
May’s producer price index reading and weekly jobless claims data are due before markets open on Thursday, and New York Fed President John Williams will moderate a panel later in the day.
A rally in tech stocks persisted in premarket trading, with shares of Broadcom AVGO.O soaring 13.5% after the company raised its forecasts for revenue from chips designed for artificial intelligence operations and announced a 10-for-1 forward stock split.
Peer Nvidia NVDA.O rose 2.2%, though shares of other megacaps Amazon AMZN.O, Meta Platforms META.O and Alphabet GOOGL.O slipped between 0.2% and 0.4%.
At 7:10 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 131 points, or 0.34%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 5 points, or 0.09%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 117.25 points, or 0.6%.
The weakness inDow futures comes afterthe blue-chip index closed roughlyflat in the previous session.
Futures tracking the more economically sensitive small-cap Russell 2000 RTYcv1 also fell 0.5% after the index notched its best day in over a month on Wednesday.
Apple AAPL.O edged down 0.2%, after jumping to an all-time-high in the previous session and briefly overtaking Microsoft as the world’s most valuable company.
Tesla TSLA.Oleapt 6.8% after Elon Musk said company shareholders were voting to approve his $56 billion pay package and to move the electric-vehicle maker’s legal home to Texas.
Virgin Galactic SPCE.N plunged 9.1%, a day after announcing a 1-for-20 reverse stock split.
Reporting by Lisa Mattackal and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath
