S&P 500 futures fell slightly on Friday after the market surged to fresh records as investors took signs of weakening jobs and tame inflation to mean the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates next week. Futures linked to the broad market index lost 0.1%, while Nasdaq-100 futures rose 0.1%. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 107 points, or 0.2%. The blue-chip Dow popped more than 600 points Thursday, while the S&P 500 gained 0.9% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7%. All three major averages closed at record levels, and the Dow closed above 46,000 for the first time. The consumer price index showed a month-to-month increase of 0.4% for August, hotter than the 0.3% that economists polled by Dow Jones were expecting. However, the index’s 2.9% rise on a 12-month basis was in line with expectations. The usually crucial inflation report was overshadowed by weekly jobless claims, which showed a surprise jump to the highest level since October 2021. Workers filing for unemployment compensation for the week ended Sept. 6 increased 27,000 to 263,000, more than the 235,000 total expected. “Today’s CPI report has been trumped by the jobless claims report,” said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management. “While the CPI report is a tad hotter than expected, it will not give the Fed a moment of hesitation when they announce a rate cut next week. If anything, the jump in jobless claims will inject a bit more urgency in the Fed’s decision making, with [Fed Chair Jerome] Powell likely signaling a sequence of rate cuts is on the way.” Futures markets are pricing in a quarter percentage point at the conclusion of Fed’s Sept. 17 meeting with near certainty, according to the CME FedWatch tool. All three major averages are up about 1.6% week to date. The S&P 500 is on pace for its best weekly performance since early August and its fifth positive week in six. The Nasdaq is on track for its second winning week in a row, while the Dow is poised to post its first positive week in three. Treasury yields edged higher on Friday morning, rebounding from moves seen in Thursday’s session. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury was more than 2 basis points higher, trading at 4.036%. On Thursday, it fell by 4 basis points to touch on the 4% level after data prints showed prices were rising while the labor market was weaker than anticipated. The yield on the 2-year Treasury gained more than 2 basis points on Friday to 3.551%, while 30-year Treasury yield rose by less than 1 basis point to 4.654%. In Asia, markets were trading higher, tracking Wall Street gains overnight. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.89% to close at 44,768.12 after hitting a fresh record high on Thursday, while the Topix added 0.4% to end at 3,160.49. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1.54% to end the trading day at 3,395.54 and the small-cap Kosdaq jumped 1.48% to 847.08. Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 added 0.68% to close at 8,864.9. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.14%, while mainland’s CSI 300 slid 0.57% to close at 4,522.00. Oil prices edged lower on Friday after big falls in the last session over concerns about possible softening of U.S. demand and broad oversupply that offset worry about supply disruption from conflict in the Middle East and war in Ukraine. Brent crude futures fell 30 cents, or 0.45%, to $66.07 a barrel by 0114 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 31 cents, or 0.5%, to $62.06. The benchmarks lost 1.7% and 2%, respectively, in the last trading session. Gold prices rose on Friday to hover near a record high scaled earlier in the week, as concerns over a weak labour market in the U.S. cemented expectations of multiple interest rate cuts by the end of the year, boosting demand for the yellow metal. Spot gold was up 0.5% at $3,650.23 per ouncenear an all-time high of $3,673.95 touched on Tuesday. Bullion has gained 1.8% so far this week and was headed for its fourth straight weekly gain. U.S. gold futures for December delivery were up 0.4% at $3,689.10.