Futures inch up ahead of the inflation report; bond yields ease

NEW YORK — U.S. stock index futures rose slightly on Wednesday, while bond yields eased and some big technology stocks gained, ahead of a key inflation report that could shape market expectations for the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate path, as Reuters reports.

Despite September’s weakness, the benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were on track for a second straight quarterly gain. The price-weighted Dow Jones was different: the index of 30 U.S. blue-chip companies was on track for a quarterly decline and its first monthly fall since March.

On Wednesday, most megacap and growth stocks rose slightly in premarket trading, with Nvidia, Alphabet and Apple all up. Chip stocks, including AMD and Marvell, were slightly lower.

At 05:27 New York time, Dow E-minis were up 95 points, or 0.18%; S&P 500 E-minis were up 8 points, or 0.1%; while Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 2.25 points, or 0.01%.

The August personal consumption expenditures (PCE) reading — closely tracked by the Fed — is expected to show annual inflation held at 3.7%, according to economists polled by Reuters.

Money-market data showed traders are almost evenly split on the chance of an interest-rate hike in October, from a more than 70% chance seen a week earlier, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.

“Q3 didn’t just dash hopes for ‘lower for longer’, it doused them in scarce oil and set them alight,” Michael Every, global strategist at Rabobank, wrote in a note.

Later in the day, the final second-quarter GDP reading and comments from at least four Fed officials, including Minneapolis Fed president Neel Kashkari, are also expected.

September was marred by extraordinary volatility in bond markets and high crude oil prices because of the ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Iran, igniting inflation concerns and hitting risk assets around the world.

On Wednesday, the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds eased by 2.9 basis points after touching its highest level since June 2007 in the previous session.

Among early movers, Boeing climbed 2.9% after the Pentagon said the planemaker has been selected to build the U.S. Navy’s next-generation stealth fighter jet — a $20 billion development contract, as Reuters reports.