Futures contracts tied to the major U.S. stock indexes turned lower on Thursday as a key inflation report showed a bigger-than-expected increase.
Dow futures dipped 30 points, while those tied to the S&P 500 fell 0.2%. Nasdaq 100 contracts shed 0.5%.
Consumer prices for May accelerated at their fastest pace in almost 13 years as inflation pressures continued to build in the U.S. economy, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The consumer price index, which represents a basket including food, energy, groceries, housing costs and sales across a spectrum of goods, rose 5% from a year ago. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting a gain of 4.7%.
Fears of spiking inflation have weighed on the stock market in the last month, with investors worried the jump in prices will raise costs for companies, spark a move higher in interest rates and cause the Federal Reserve to remove its easy money policies.
UPS shares rose about 1% in premarket trading after an upgrade from JPMorgan. Shares of Boeing and Delta Air Lines were also higher in premarket trading.
Shares of Tesla and Apple were slightly lower in early trading.
U.S. markets continued to trade within a tight range on Wednesday, with all three major indexes ending the day within 0.5% of Tuesday’s closing levels. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all fell during regular trading, ending the session further away from their respective all-time highs.
The S&P 500 remains closest to its benchmark and is just 0.44% away from a new all-time high. The Dow and Nasdaq are roughly 2% away from records.
Video-game retailer and meme stock GameStop fell 7% in premarket trading even after the company tapped former Amazon executive Matt Furlong to be its next CEO and said that sales rose 25% last quarter. The company also said it may sell up to 5 million additional shares.
Investors are trying to gauge if higher price pressures are just temporary as the economy continues to rebound from the pandemic-induced recession.
For weeks investors have worried whether a rash of inflation could prompt the Federal Reserve to curb the pace of its asset purchases. Still, some say those fears are premature and that the central bank will give markets plenty of time before it makes any moves.
“We believe the easy money policies of the Fed will last for some time,” wrote Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
“We do not expect the Fed to raise interest rates this year or next but do think it is likely our central bankers start to hint that they are thinking about tapering their bond purchases, possibly as soon as this fall,” he added. “That means we continue to lean toward cyclical sectors that are sensitive to the ebb-and-flow of the economy.”
