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(Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes were set to open higher on Wednesday as U.S. Treasury yields continued to retreat, while investors assessed the latest inflation data and awaited minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting.
A Labor Department report showed the producer price index for final demand increased 0.5% last month compared with estimates of a 0.3% increase, ahead of Thursday’s closely watched consumer inflation data.
The core figure, which excludes volatile food and energy components, rose 0.3% month-on-month versus estimates of a 0.2% increase.
“The market is responding as if this were essentially a non-event, something that had been anticipated and not something that would cause the Fed to change their inflationary direction,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.
Minutes from the Fed’s September meeting, where policymakers held rates steady, are expected at 2 p.m. ET and would be crucial in assessing the central bank’s outlook on interest rates.
Yields on government bonds have eased from their multi-year highs on dovish remarks from Fed officials earlier this week.
However, Fed Governor Michelle Bowman on Wednesday repeated her view that despite “some progress” on inflation, the U.S. central bank will probably need to tighten monetary policy further to restore price stability.
Central bank officials such as Fed Governor Christopher Waller, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and Boston Fed President Susan Collins are also scheduled to speak on Wednesday.
Megacap stocks Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) advanced between 0.3% and 0.8% in premarket trading.
Meanwhile, the conflict in Middle East raged on as Israel bombed Gaza overnight ahead of a potential ground assault against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
Israel’s death toll reached 1,200 with more than 2,700 wounded, its military said, while retaliatory strikes on the blockaded enclave have killed 1,055 people and wounded 5,184, according to Palestinian officials.
The debut of German luxury sandal maker Birkenstock Holding on the New York Stock Exchange will also be keenly watched. The company has priced its IPO at the middle of its indicated price range at $46 per share.
At 8:41 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 58 points, or 0.17%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 7.25 points, or 0.17%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 38.75 points, or 0.25%.
Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) added 2.1% after the pharmacy chain operator said it has appointed Tim Wentworth as its new chief executive.
Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) fell 1.7% after Piper Sandler downgraded the cloud networking solutions provider’s stock.
Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) lost 3.1% as the oil and gas producer is set to buy shale producer Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) in an all-stock deal valued at $59.5 billion. Pioneer was up 1.8%.
Drugmaker Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) gained 2.6% following the early success of Danish rival Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO)’s Ozempic in a trial to treat kidney failure, while dialysis firms DaVita (NYSE:DVA) and Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) slumped 16.7% and 9.3%, respectively.
