AP – Wall Street inched higher before the bell yesterday as markets try to extend this week’s gains in hopes of clawing back more of last week’s losses.
Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average each rose just less than 0.2 per cent before markets opened.
Investors are taking in a smattering of earnings reports and corporate news ahead of the government’s wholesale inflation and jobless claims reports later yesterday morning.
Moderna slumped about seven per cent in early trading after the drugmaker lowered its fiscal 2025 revenue forecast well below Wall Street’s targets. The company, whose sales have cratered in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, is also reducing its 2025-2028 research and development investment by 20 per cent, from USD20 billion to USD16 billion.
On Wednesday, the latest government report on United States (US) inflation showed that overall inflation slowed to 2.5 per cent in August from 2.9 per cent in July, a touch better than expected. But prices rose more than expected from July into August when ignoring food and energy, and economists say that can be a better predictor of where inflation is heading.
The data seemed to confirm the US Federal Reserve will likely cut its main interest rate at its meeting next week, which would be the first such cut in more than four years. A worry is that it may prove too late, with US shoppers already struggling under the weight of high prices.
Across the Atlantic, the European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to announce an interest rate cut to boost its flagging economy. Analysts aren’t expecting a flurry of big rate cuts from the ECB as inflation there has slowed considerably thanks to falling energy prices.
At midday, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.8 per cent, while Germany’s DAX jumped 1.2 per cent and Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.8 per cent.
