Thursday morning, stock futures moved little as traders considered U.S. bank earnings in advance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures have fallen 11 points, or 0.04%. The S&P 500 futures have slightly declined and the Nasdaq 100 futures have dropped 0.13%.
Wednesday’s stock prices went down after data came in showing June inflation had exceeded expectations, becoming the highest since 1981. It led to fear among investors that the Federal Reserve will have to hike interest rates in the near future to slow inflation.
In June, the consumer price index rose by 9.1% over the previous year. This is greater than analysts predicted it would be by 8.8%. In addition, the core CPI, excluding volatile energy and food prices, was 5.9%, exceeding the estimate of 5.7%.
On top of that, The Beige Book from the Fed, released Wednesday, indicated worries of an upcoming recession amid high inflation.
This affected treasury securities and sent the 2-year yield up nine basis points to about 3.138% while the yield on the 10-year declined by about 4 basis points to 2.919. A recession is frequently signaled by an inversion of the two.
“Everything’s on the table, all of a sudden you have to start pricing in a recession,” Dan Nathan, principal at RiskReversal Advisors, said.
Thursday will be the last day for earnings this quarter, as JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley release their reports before the opening bell.
Another couple of significant economic indicators will be published this Thursday – weekly jobless claims and the June producer price index report. Both reports will provide insight into the economy.
