Stock futures flat as traders await another inflation reading, big bank earnings: Live update

Stock futures were little changed on Friday morning, as investors looked to a wholesale inflation reading and quarterly results from major banks.

The future is bound S&P 500 inch less by 0.04%, while Nasdaq 100 futures Ticked down by 0.1%. Futures associated with it Dow Jones Industrial Average 25 points less.

Action follows a losing day for the main average, with S&P 500 and 30-stock Dao Back off their record in Thursday's session. The broad market index slipped 0.2%, while the Dow lost about 0.1%. D Nasdaq Composite Posted a slight decline of 0.05%.

New data issued on Thursday raised investor fears that inflation is not slowing down fast enough. September's consumer price index rose 0.2% on a monthly basis and 2.4% from a year ago. The results topped the 0.1% monthly advance and 2.3% year-over-year gain expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones.

Fed funds futures trading suggests a roughly 87% chance the Federal Reserve will dial down interest rates by a quarter point in November, according to the CME FedWatch tool. However, central bank policymakers will keep a close eye on additional data, which will determine their rates.

“The data is not compelling enough to keep the Fed from cutting outright in November,” said Preston Caldwell, senior US economist at Morningstar. “But more data like this (as well as stronger data on economic activity) could skip the December 2024 or January 2025 meetings.”

Indeed, another catalyst awaits Friday morning: the producer price index, a measure of wholesale prices. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected the PPI index to rise 0.1% on a monthly basis in September. Excluding food and energy costs, they forecast a 0.2% advance.

JP Morgan Chase And Wells Fargo Also scheduled to report quarterly earnings before hours. The results could impact markets on Friday.

Major averages are heading into the final day of the week with modest gains. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% for the week, while the Dow gained 0.2%. The Nasdaq was the outperformer of the three, up 0.8% during the period.