(Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes were set to open higher on Friday following a boost from technology and high-growth stocks, with investors awaiting key inflation data next week for clues on the pace of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish comments spurred volatility in U.S. stock markets on Thursday, but the three major indexes are still on track to post weekly gains and snap a three-week losing streak.
“We got oversold in the last couple of weeks in August and this is a relief rally,” said Dennis Dick, head of markets structure at Triple D Trading.
“The market is, to a certain extent, getting ahead of next week’s CPI (consumer prices index) data. It’s fairly predictable that the data next week is going to be light. We’ve had significant commodity deflation over the course of the last four weeks.”
Investors will watch for the August U.S. inflation report due next Tuesday to gauge the likelihood of another large interest rate hike from the Fed at its policy meeting later in the month.
Traders are pricing in an 87% chance of a 75 basis point rate hike at the next meeting, up from 57% a week earlier, according to CME Group’s (NASDAQ:CME) Fedwatch tool.
Several Fed policymakers including Fed Kansas City President Esther George, a voting member of the rate-setting committee this year, are scheduled to speak later in the day.
Adding to the upbeat mood on Friday was data showing China’s consumer and producer prices rose less than expected in August, which fanned hopes for more stimulus from Beijing.
Still, the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq are down nearly 7% and 9.6%, respectively, from their peaks hit in mid-August, as the Fed and other major central banks reaffirmed their commitment to bring down decades-high inflation.
U.S. equity funds recorded outflows of $11.5 billion in the week to Wednesday, their largest outflow in 11 weeks, BofA said on Friday citing EPFR data.
At 8:51 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 248 points, or 0.78%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 36 points, or 0.9%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 139.5 points, or 1.13%.
The CBOE volatility index, a gauge of investor anxiety, remained elevated at 23 points, which is above its long-term average of 20.
High growth stocks Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Inc, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) all rose more than 1% in premarket trading.
Digital World Acquisition Corp, the blank-check acquisition firm that agreed to merge with Donald Trump’s social media company, was up 3.6%. The company said it would extend its life by three months after its bid to win a 12-month extension from its shareholders fell short.
Kroger (NYSE:KR) Co rose 3.4% after the U.S. grocer raised its annual forecast.
Source: Economy - investing.com
