(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures were subdued on Friday, with investors cautious ahead of the producer prices inflation data due later in the day.
Wall Street finished marginally higher in the previous session, giving up most early gains after milder-than-feared consumer prices data as investors worried about the U.S. economy’s longer-term prospects and whether stocks had further room to run.
Investors are focused on the producer prices data due at 8:30 a.m ET, that will offer more insight into inflation in the world’s largest economy and the Federal Reserve’s rate hike path.
U.S. Labor Department’s producer price index (PPI) for final demand, is expected to rise 0.2% in July, after growing 0.1% in June. In the 12 months through July, the PPI likely climbed 0.7%, after rising 0.1% on the same basis in June.
The U.S. consumer sentiment data is also due later in the day.
At 05:15 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 21 points, or 0.06%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 1.75 points, or 0.04%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 19.75 points, or 0.13%.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq and the S&P 500 are on track to end their second week lower as a jump in U.S. bond yields weighed on rate-sensitive megacap growth and technology stocks that have led outsized gains this year.
The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.08%, pressuring growth stocks such as Nvidia and Tesla in premarket trading.
“Amid runaway government deficits and the Treasury increasing its debt issuance both in size and duration, the balance of power seems to be shifting in favor of higher yields,” said Marios Hadjikyriacos, senior investment analyst at forex broker XM.
“Higher yields incentivize investors to park their cash in the safety of bonds, and therefore decreases demand for risky plays like equities.”
U.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies like Alibaba and JD.com fell between 1.8% and 3.1%, as investors were disappointed by Beijing’s latest stimulus measures, amid fresh data showing that the post-pandemic recovery is continuing to lose steam.
(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru)
