(Reuters) – U.S. index futures were mixed at the start of a week marked by a crucial inflation reading and other economic data that should further shed light on the outlook for monetary policy, with the first U.S. presidential debate being also on the watchlist.
The biggest event on investors’ radar for the week is Friday’s report on the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, which is expected to show moderation pressures on prices.
Market participants still expect about two rate cuts this year, with the chance of a 25 basis point cut in September at 60.4%, according to LSEG’s FedWatch study. This comes as investors weigh the moderation of recent inflation data compared to the Fed’s latest forecast of a likely rate cut in December.
The S&P 500 recorded its third consecutive weekly gain and the Dow Jones recorded its strongest weekly performance in six over the previous week, which saw the simultaneous expiration of stock and index derivatives contracts, the quarterly rebalancing of the S&P 500, mixed economic data and Nvidia briefly became. the most valuable company in the world.
AI chip leader Nvidia slipped 1.8% premarket after falling nearly 7% over the past two sessions, while other semiconductor stocks like U.S.-listed stocks United Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Arm Holdings also lost 1.6% and 2.2%, respectively.
Other events scheduled for the week include durable goods, weekly jobless claims and final first-quarter GDP numbers, as well as some quarterly results from companies like FedEx, Carnival Corp, Micron Technology and Walgreens Boots Alliance.
On the political front, President Joe Biden will debate his rival Donald Trump on Thursday in Atlanta, with the two neck and neck in national opinion polls, while a considerable slice of the electorate remains undecided for more than four months before the vote on November 5.
As of 5:47 a.m. ET, the Dow e-minis were up 77 points, or 0.19%, the S&P 500 e-minis were up 1 point, or 0.02%, and the e-minis of the Nasdaq 100 were down 28 points, or 0.14%.
Among major premarket movers, Under Armor fell 3.1% after the sportswear maker agreed to pay $434 million to settle a 2017 class-action lawsuit accusing it of defrauding its shareholders on its revenue growth in order to meet Wall Street forecasts.
Breathing device maker ResMed fell 12.5% ​​after Eli Lilly said its popular weight-loss drug Zepbound helped resolve moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea in up to 52% of patients in two late-stage trials.
Affirm Holdings rose 4.4% after Goldman Sachs assumed coverage of buy now, pay later with a “buy” rating.
(Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bangalore; editing by Maju Samuel)
