Stock futures were lower Wednesday ahead of the release of closely watched consumer price inflation data, as the U.S. equities market looks to rebound from a downturn yesterday that ended a weeklong rally.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq were each down 0.3%, while those linked to the S&P 500 were off 0.2%. The major indexes finished lower Tuesday as the market took a breather after hitting a series of record highs following Donald Trump’s victory in last week’s presidential election and the Federal Reserve’s move to cut interest rates.
Tesla (TSLA), which has gained more than 30% over the past week as investors bet that the EV maker stands to benefit from CEO Elon Musk’s close relationship with the president-elect, was up 1.5% in premarket trading. Other mega-cap technology stocks were mostly lower, with AI investor favorite (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL) and Meta Platforms (META) losing ground while Amazon (AMZN) inched higher.
Among other noteworthy movers before the bell, shares of Cava Group (CAVA) were up 16% after the fast-casual restaurant chain reported strong earnings, while Rocket Companies (RKT) was down 11% after the mortgage lender released its results.
Investors are awaiting the release of the October CPI report, which is due at 8:30 a.m. ET. Investors are watching data closely for indications that the economy remains on sound footing, as well as information that could affect the Federal Reserve’s future decisions on interest rates.
The yield on 10-year Treasurys, which is correlated to expectations around interest rates, was down slightly at 4.42% this morning. The yield has been rising as investors have recalibrated their thinking on how aggressive the Fed will be in its moves to cut interest rates.
Bitcoin was trading around $88,000, after briefly touching $90,000 for the first time late yesterday. The cryptocurrency has gained about 30% since the election amid hopes that a supportive White House and Congress will implement policies that benefit the asset class.
Gold was up slightly at around $2,620 an ounce. The precious metal, which hit a record high of $2,800 early last week, has lost ground since the election as the U.S. dollar has strengthened.