US pre-open: Futures sightly higher as rate‑cut outlook dominates sentiment

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Thursday after the blue chip Dow Jones snapped a three-day winning streak in the previous session. As of 1230, Dow Jones futures were up 0.31%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.30% and 0.26% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 66.74 points lower on Wednesday after an initial positive reaction to January's jobs report quickly faded as investors assessed the impact of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' stronger-than-expected payrolls on interest-rate policy.

While yesterday's non-farm payrolls figures was seen as a relief for market participants who were concerned that the report would show a drop-off in America's labour market, following recent data that has pointed towards slowing growth, the strong payrolls numbers were also seen as likely muddying the Federal Reserve's interest rate outlook, potentially meaning fewer rate cuts than investors were originally expecting if higher inflation also continues to remain an issue.

Market participants will now look ahead to the week's next major piece of economic data, Friday's consumer price index, which may indicate the kind of progress the central bank needs to rebalance its dual mandate. CPI was expected to have ticked up 0.3% month-on-month in January, unchanged from December, while core CPI was also seen 0.3% higher last month, up from 0.2% in the previous month.

On Thursday's macro slate, weekly jobless claims data from the Labor Department will be published at 1330 GMT, while January existing home sales figures will follow at 1500 GMT.

In the corporate space, Cisco Systems headed south in extended trading on the back of some disappointing guidance for the current quarter, while fast-food giant McDonald's was also in the red despite posting a quarterly earnings beat.

Still to come, Airbnb and Expedia will report earnings after the close.





Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com