U.S. stock futures edged lower Friday, consolidating after Wall Street recorded fresh record highs as benign consumer prices and a weakening labor market kept Federal Reserve rate cut bets intact.
At 05:40 ET (09:40 GMT), Dow Jones Futures fell 78 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500Futures slipped 8 points, or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 10 points, or 0.1%.
On Thursday, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average notched a record-high close, ending above 46,000 for the first time. The benchmark S&P 500 and tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite also rose by 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively, touching all-time peaks as well.
All three major averages are up about 1.6% week to date. The S&P 500 is on pace for its best weekly performance since early August and its fifth positive week in six. The Nasdaq is on track for its second winning week in a row, while the DJIA is poised to post its first positive week in three.
Fed rate cut cemented for next week
Data on Thursday showed U.S. consumer prices rose 0.4% in August, slightly above expectations and the sharpest monthly increase since January.
That pushed the annual rate to 2.9%, the fastest in seven months, raising questions about how quickly inflation is easing toward the Fed’s 2% target.
At the same time, weekly jobless claimsjumped to 263,000, the highest level since 2021, underscoring signs of softening in the labor market after last week’s weak nonfarm payrolls report.
