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U.S. stock index futures erased losses, rising to a session high Tuesday, after the August consumer-price index rose less than expected.
What’s happening
-
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average
YM00,
+0.34%
rose127 points, or 0.4%, to 34,881. -
S&P 500 futures
ES00,
+0.36%
rose 0.4%, or 16.85 points, to 4,476.25. -
Futures on the Nasdaq 100
NQ00,
+0.38%
rose 53.25 points, or 0.3%, to 15,483.25.
On Monday, the Dow
DJIA,
jumped 262 points, or 0.8%, to end at 34869, ending a five-session losing run. The S&P 500
SPX,
rose 10 points, or 0.2%, to 4468, while the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
slipped 10 points, or 0.1%, to 15105.
What’s driving markets
The U.S. consumer price index rose 0.3% in August, while the core reading, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was up just 0.1%.
The CPI increased 5.3% in the August year, compared to expectations for a 5.4% increase, and a rise of 5.5% for the year last month. The year-over-year change in core CPI fell back to 4% from 4.3% in July.
While the reading remains elevated, signs of peak inflation could make it less urgent for the Federal Reserve to begin scaling back its bond purchases, though investors have largely scaled back expectations for the central bank to lay out a timetable to begin tapering at its meeting next week.
Earlier, the National Federation of Independent Business said its small-business optimism index rose 0.4 point in August to 100.1. Small-business owners were somewhat more optimistic about the economy, but said record shortages of labor and supplies were cutting into sales and profits.
What companies are in focus?
-
Apple Inc.
AAPL,
+0.39%
will be in the spotlight as the megacap tech star launches its latest iPhones at an event due to start at 1 p.m. Eastern. Shares were up 0.5% in premarket trade. -
Shares of database software giant Oracle Corp.
ORCL,
-0.88%
fell more than 3%, as its revenue for its fiscal first quarter came in below Wall Street estimates.
How are other assets trading?
-
Chinese stocks continued to come under pressure, with the Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP,
-1.42%
falling 1.4% and the Hang Seng
HSI,
-1.21%
dropping 1.2%. Analysts continue to focus on the declining fortunes of property giant China Evergrande
3333,
-11.87% ,
and a key slate of economics data is due on Wednesday.
