Traders at work on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange on June 14, 2024.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
US stock futures were little changed on Wednesday evening after both S&P 500 And Nasdaq Composite closed at new record highs.
Futures linked to the broad market index fell by less than 0.1%, as did Nasdaq 100 Futures. Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures lost 29 points, or less than 0.1%.
In case of action after closing time, Costco Wholesale rose 2% after announcing the first increase in membership since 2017. WD-40 Company rose 12% on the back of its fiscal third quarter report, with total net sales increasing 9% compared to the same period last year.
Earlier in the day, the S&P 500 rose 1.02% to close above 5,600 for the first time, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.18% to a record close. 30-Share Dow rose by 429.39 points, or 1.09%.
The moves come ahead of the release of a key inflation report expected on Thursday morning, which could bolster expectations for a rate cut in September.
Economists polled by Dow Jones expect the consumer price index to rise 0.1% monthly and 3.1% annually in June. This would build on positive news from the May report, which showed inflation flat on a monthly basis and up 3.3% annually.
The core CPI for June, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, is expected to rise 0.2% for the month and 3.4% from a year earlier.
“With a little bit lower inflation I think some of the big tech companies will probably do a little bit better [Thursday]”, said Mike Bailey, director of research at FBB Capital Partners. “Any positive surprises in inflation will be negative surprises for markets. I don’t think that’s going to happen — I see that as a low probability, but it’s there.”
PepsiCo, Delta Airlines And Conagra will report their earnings figures before the bell on Thursday.