(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures slipped on Friday, near the end of a week of sharp Wall Street gains underpinned by hopes of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts after softer-than-expected consumer inflation data.
All three main indexes had touched record highs on Thursday and the Dow briefly crossed the 40,000 milestone, before reversing gains and closing in the red.
Nevertheless, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were set for their fourth straight week of gains, and the blue-chip Dow was on track for its fifth weekly advance, supported by strong quarterly results and slowing inflation data that bolstered bets for Fed rate cuts.
“We believe the rally has been well-supported. The first-quarter earnings results and guidance provided us with greater conviction for our view of 9% earnings growth for the S&P 500 in 2024, with earnings growth broadening out beyond the large-cap growth companies,” said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management in a note.
“Additionally, U.S. economic data has been in line with our base case for a soft landing.”
Investors will parse comments from Fed officials Christopher Waller and Mary Daly, expected after the opening bell, for further cues on the central bank’s monetary policy path.
Traders currently see a 70% chance of the first rate cut in September, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
At 05:00 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 31 points or 0.08%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 4.25 points or 0.08%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 13.75 points or 0.07%.
Reddit rose 12.6% in premarket trading on partnering with OpenAI to bring its content to ChatGPT.
Meanwhile, GameStop and AMC Entertainment – meme stocks popular with retail investors – gained 9.4% and 5.0%, respectively.
Both were on track to end the week sharply higher on excitement over the social media return of “Roaring Kitty,” who was the central figure in 2021 meme stock rally.
(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)
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