U.S. stock futures rose slightly Thursday, as investors tried to recapture the postelection momentum that brought the major averages to record highs. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 101 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures climbed 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures traded just above the flatline. Disney shares popped 8% after the media giant reported better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results. The company got a boost from strong streaming growth driving its entertainment business. On Wednesday, the 30-stock Dow and S&P 500 closed out the regular session near the flatline, with the former rising 47.21 points, or 0.11%, and the latter eking out a 0.02% gain. The Nasdaq Composite ended the session down by 0.26%. Those moves come after the October consumer price index came in as expected, but nevertheless signaled the Federal Reserve’s fight against inflation is yet to be won. Core CPI rose by 0.3% for a third straight month, with the 12-month rate at 3.3%. Investors are deliberating whether a postelection rally following Donald Trump’s decisive victory last week still has room to run after powering the major averages to new milestones. The Dow closed above 44,000 for the first time on Monday, and both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite notched new highs. Courtney Garcia, senior wealth advisor at Payne Capital Management, expects there’s still upside to be had, given the cash sitting in the sidelines from investors awaiting more certainty on the market. “I don’t think the rally is necessarily ending any time in the short term, but with that new money to add, I think there’s a lot of other areas of opportunity that still have room to run,” Garcia said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” On the economic front, the October producer price index will be released Thursday, and the retail sales report is due out Friday. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is set to speak Thursday in Dallas, Texas. Treasury yields were little changed Thursday as investors monitored a fresh batch of economic data and a flurry of speeches from Federal Reserve policymakers. The 10-year Treasury yield traded marginally lower at 4.439%, while the yield on the 2-year Treasury also fell slightly to 4.271%. Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell on Thursday after the U.S. October consumer price index reading reinforced expectations that the Fed would cuts rates again in December. The CPI came in line with expectations, accelerating slightly to an annual inflation rate of 2.6%. Core CPI, which straps out volatile food and energy prices, gained 3.3% last month, also matching expectations. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index led losses in the region, down over 2% as of its final hour of trade, extending a multi-day losing streak that has seen the index lose 4% this week as of Wednesday’s close. Mainland China’s CSI 300 also tumbled 1.73% to finish at 4,039.62. The rare bright spot, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.37% to close at 8,224 following the jobless data. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.48%, reversing earlier gains to close at 38,535.70, while the Topix dropped 0.27% to finish at 2,701.22. In South Korea, Kospi gained marginally end nearly flat 2,418.86, while the Kosdaq Index declined by 1.17% to 681.56. Crude oil futures rose slightly on Thursday, with the U.S. benchmark trading around $69 per barrel, though the market outlook remains bearish. Global crude supplies are expected to outstrip demand by more than 1 million barrels per day next year led by robust growth in the U.S., according to the International Energy Agency’s monthly market report. West Texas Intermediate December contract: $68.92 per barrel, up 49 cents, or 0.7%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil is down more than 3%. Brent January contract: $72.78 per barrel, up 50 cents, or 0.7%. Year to date, the global benchmark is down more than 5%. Gold fell for a fifth straight session on Thursday to hit its lowest level in eight weeks, pressured by a stronger U.S. dollar and rising Treasury yields amid uncertainty over the pace of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts. Spot gold was down 0.6% at $2,559.39 per ounce, as of 0244 GMT, after hitting its lowest since Sept. 19 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures fell 0.9% to $2,564.00. The U.S. dollar advanced to a one-year high, making gold more expensive for overseas buyers, while Treasury yield rose to its highest since July.
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