US pre-open: Futures mostly higher ahead of October CPI reading

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were mostly higher ahead of Tuesday's open as investors awaited a key inflation reading and assessed fresh comments from Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller, who signalled that further monetary tightening remains on the table. As of 1230 GMT, Dow Jones and S&P 500 futures were up 0.37% and 0.08%, respectively, while Nasaq-100 futures had the index opening 0.30% lower.

The Dow closed 1,104.02 points higher on Monday as declining oil prices boosted sentiment ahead of key inflation data and earnings from several major AI-linked companies later in the week.

As for Tuesday's headlines, Waller said he was leaning towards supporting an interest rate increase at the Fed's December meeting, citing persistent inflationary pressures. The policymaker also indicated he would be open to a larger-than-expected 50 basis point move should inflation data come in above forecasts, warning that a smaller increase could risk damaging the central bank's credibility.

His comments come ahead of October's closely watched consumer price index, due out at 1330 GMT, with economists expecting to see headline inflation rise 0.3% month-on-month last month, slowing from September's 0.6% increase. Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, was forecast to increase 0.2%, compared with 0.3% in the prior month.

Elsewhere on the macro front, the National Federation of Independent Business' small business optimism index edged down to 97.8 in October from 97.9 in September, marking its lowest reading since June but coming in broadly in line with expectations. The NFIB said sentiment among small business owners was little changed during the month as firms continued to grapple with ongoing challenges. Labour availability remained the biggest concern for a fourth consecutive month, although the proportion of owners citing labour quality or availability as their most significant operating problem eased by one percentage point to 25%. Taxation concerns, however, increased notably, with 21% of respondents identifying taxes as their single biggest issue, the highest proportion recorded since May 2021.

In the corporate space, cloud infrastructure technology firm CoreWeave will report quarterly earnings after the close.



Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com