Dow futures fall 45 pts; key inflation data looms large

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks are seen opening marginally lower Wednesday, continuing the previous session’s cautious tone, ahead of the release of key monthly U.S. inflation data.

At 06:50 ET (10:50 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was down 45 points or 0.1%, S&P 500 Futures traded 6 points or 0.2% lower, and Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 25 points or 0.2%.

The main indices closed lower Tuesday in muted trading, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average ending just over 50 points or 0.2% lower, while the broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.5% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.6%.

All eyes are on the latest U.S. inflation data, due at 08:30 ET (12:30 GMT) after Fed officials stressed the importance of the upcoming data following the U.S. central bank’s tenth straight interest rate increase last week.

The key core CPI release, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, is seen holding steady at a monthly 0.4%, which could give the Federal Reserve room to pause its tightening campaign at its next meeting, in June.

However, New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said on Tuesday it is too soon to say whether the U.S. central bank is done raising interest rates, arguing that if more action is needed policymakers won't hold back.

Another factor weighing on sentiment is the uncertainty surrounding the country’s debt ceiling, with a meeting of top policymakers on Tuesday failing to solve the impasse even as the June 1 deadline of when the government runs out of money, risking a crippling default, comes closer.

The quarterly earnings is nearing its end, but there are still results due from the likes of Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS), Roblox (NYSE:RBLX), and Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) this session.

Elsewhere, Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) stock fell over 13% premarket after the holiday rental booking company offered up disappointing guidance late Tuesday, saying it expected fewer bookings and lower average daily rates in the second quarter versus a year earlier.

Twilio (NYSE:TWLO) stock fell over 17% after the cloud service provider forecast weak second quarter revenue on shrinking demand for cloud services.

On the flip side, Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN) stock rose over 6% after the EV manufacturer beat quarterly revenue expectations, helped by selling more higher-priced electric vehicles.

Oil prices fell Wednesday after industry data pointed to an unexpected build in U.S. crude stocks, raising concerns over a possible fall in demand from the largest consumer in the world.

Data from the American Petroleum Institute, released Tuesday, indicated that U.S. crude inventories rose by about 3.6 million barrels in the week ended May 5, while gasoline stockpiles rose by just under 400,000 barrels.

Official numbers from the Energy Information Administration are due later in the session, for confirmation.

By 06:50 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 1.2% lower at $72.86 a barrel, while the Brent contract dropped 1.1% to $76.58.

Additionally, gold futures fell 0.2% to $2,038.45/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% lower at 1.0954.