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Dow futures higher after U.S. inflation data; Oracle in focus
Investing.com — U.S. stock futures moved slightly higher on Tuesday after inflation data supported the case for the Federal Reserve to pause its aggressive year-long monetary tightening cycle.
By 08:49 ET (12:49 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 124 points, or 0.4%, S&P 500 Futures traded 26 points or 0.6% higher, and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 150 points or 1%.
The main Wall Street indices all closed higher Monday, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average adding nearly 190 points, or 0.6%, to a 6-week high, the S&P 500 gaining 0.9% to a fresh yearly high, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rising 1.5% to a 14-month peak.
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U.S. inflation cools
The consumer price index for May showed that annual inflation rose 4% in May, the slowest increase in two years. Core inflation proved more persistent, rising 0.4% last month, increasing by the same amount for the third month in a row.
According to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool, there is a more than 96% chance that the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee will vote to keep borrowing costs steady on Wednesday.
Aiding sentiment, China’s central bank lowered a short-term lending rate for the first time in 10 months, as the authorities seek to boost the flagging recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.
Oracle soars after upbeat forecast
In corporate news, Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) stock rose 6.2% premarket after the cloud and software company reported a strong fourth quarter revenue and forecast an upbeat first quarter, driven by growing demand for its cloud offerings from companies deploying AI.
Home improvement retailer Home Depot (NYSE:HD) is scheduled to hold its investor and analyst day later Tuesday amid a continued tough housing market, as consumers pull back their do-it-yourself project spending.
Oil rebounds ahead of OPEC monthly report
Oil prices edged higher Tuesday, recovering some of the previous session’s bruising losses on persistent concerns over the demand outlook in China and the U.S.
Both benchmarks dropped over 3.5% on Monday, falling to their lowest levels in almost three months, but traders have since readjusted their positions amid caution ahead of upcoming U.S. inflation data and the conclusion of a Federal Reserve meeting.
The latest monthly report from OPEC is due later in the session, as are weekly U.S. crude inventories from industry body American Petroleum Institute.
By 06:50 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 1.8% higher at $68.28 a barrel, while the Brent contract climbed 2% to $73.29.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,977.45/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.4% higher at 1.0801.
(Oliver Gray contributed to this item)