Dow Futures Rise 115 Pts; Fed's Favorite Inflation Gauge Due

By Peter Nurse

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks are seen opening higher Friday, bouncing from the previous session's sharp losses ahead of key inflation data with a difficult month drawing to a close.

At 07:00 ET (11:00 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 115 points or 0.4%, S&P 500 Futures traded 20 points or 0.5% higher, and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 55 points or 0.5%.

The main equity indices posted hefty losses Thursday, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average ending over 450 points or 1.5% lower, the broad-based S&P 500 dropping 2.1%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite falling 2.8%.

These losses sum up a troublesome month for investors, as aggressive actions by the Federal Reserve to tame inflation have prompted concerns that the U.S. economy will slump into recession.

For September, the Dow is off 7.3%, the S&P 500 is down 8%, and the Nasdaq Composite is on track for a loss of 9.1% for the month.

There are more speeches from Fed policymakers later Friday, and their comments will be studied carefully for their views on the future path of interest rates.

The U.S. central bank last week delivered a third-straight 75-basis-point interest rate increase, lifting its policy rate target range to 3%-3.25%, and expectations are rife that the policymakers will agree to another such hike in November.

Ahead of that, the Fed's preferred inflation measure, the core PCE price index, is due at 08:30 ET (12:30 GMT) and is expected to have risen 0.5% in August, compared with 0.1% the prior month. The year-over-year expectation is a gain of 4.7% compared with 4.6% the prior month.

In Europe, inflation climbed to a fresh record high in September, with the year-on-year reading at 10%, up from 9.1% in August and above economists' estimates of 9.7%.

In the corporate sector, Nike (NYSE:NKE) stock fell over 10% premarket after the world's largest sportswear maker cautioned that gross margins would remain under pressure through the year.

Amylyx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMLX) rose over 9% premarket after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its drug to treat a fatal neurodegenerative condition commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Oil prices rose Friday, but are heading for the first quarterly drop in two years on continued fears over a global economic slowdown.

Next week sees the latest get-together of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, together called OPEC+, amid speculation that the group will agree to cut crude output in order to support falling prices.

By 07:00 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.4% higher at $81.59 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 0.4% to $87.53.

Additionally, gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,674.75/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.5% lower at 0.9765.