Stock futures traded near the flatline Friday as Wall Street awaits a key inflation reading. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched lower by 5 points. S&P 500 futures were off by less than 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures ticked down 0.1%. Traders are awaiting the release of August’s personal consumption expenditures price index, due at 8:30 a.m. ET. The so-called PCE is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation metric, and policymakers and Wall Street alike are hoping for figures that show a cooling trend. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect that headline PCE rose at a 2.3% annualized pace, and that it gained 0.1% from the prior month. Wall Street is coming off a winning session, after a batch of economic data assured investors of the strength of the U.S. economy. Initial jobless claims had fallen more than expected, indicating a strong labor market, while the final reading of second-quarter gross domestic product came in at 3%. “Markets are pleased that the Fed is taking meaningful steps to recalibrate policy,” LPL Financial chief economist Jeffrey Roach said. The three major indexes are higher for the week, with the S&P 500 up nearly 0.8% and the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average on pace to rise 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite is on track for a roughly 1.4% week-to-date advance. U.S. Treasury yields were little changed on Friday, with investors looking to the release of key inflation data as they weighed the state of the economy. At 6:05 a.m. ET, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was down by less than 1 basis point at 3.789%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last at 3.629% after falling by more than two basis points. Chinese markets clocked their best week in almost 16 years as the mainland’s CSI 300 rallied 15.7% this week, buoyed by several economic stimulus measures by the central bank. The last time the index saw a bigger weekly gain was the week ending Nov. 14, 2008. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index recorded a weekly gain of 12.75%, making it the index’s best week since February 1998, according to FactSet data. On Friday, the CSI 300 climbed 4.47% to close at 3,703.68, its highest level in about a year, while the HSI rose 3.32% and closed at 20,586.94, its highest since February 2023. Other Asia-Pacific markets also mostly rose Friday, with investors also assessing September inflation numbers from Japan’s capital city of Tokyo, which is widely considered a leading indicator of nationwide trends. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 2.32%, closing at 39,829. The index hit its highest since July 19 and has erased all its losses after the July 30 Bank of Japan rate decision. The broad based Topix rose 0.73% to 2,740.94 after the CPI reading was announced. The Japanese yen weakened more than 1% against the U.S. dollar, before reversing course to strengthen 0.9% to trade at 143.4. South Korea’s Kospi was fell 0.82%, closing at 2,649.78 while the small-cap Kosdaq closed 0.6% lower at 774.49. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.10% and ended at 8,212.2, about 30 points away from its all-time high of 8,246.2. Oil prices fell for a third day on Friday, on course to end the week lower, as investors focused on expectations of higher supplies from Libya and the broader OPEC+ group of oil exporters. Brent crude futures fell 57 cents, or 0.8%, to $71.03 per barrel by 0036 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 58 cents, or 0.9%, to $67.09 a barrel. On a weekly basis, Brent crude was set to shed about 4.6%, while WTI is on track to slide 6.6%. Gold and silver prices retreated on Friday from record highs, but were positioned for weekly gains on growing anticipation of another bumper U.S. interest rate cut this year, as markets awaited a key inflation report for additional guidance. Spot gold slipped 0.1% to $2,667.13 per ounce, holding below previous session’s record peak of $2,685.42. U.S. gold futures dipped 0.2% to $2,689.4.
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