U.S. stock futures rose Thursday as traders looked ahead to another inflation reading. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 130 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures advanced 0.3%, and Nasdaq-100 futures climbed 0.4%. Trading platform Robinhood popped 12% after the company reported a 16% increase in assets under custody in February from the prior month. Troubled electric vehicle startup Fisker tumbled 37% after The Wall Street Journal reported that the company has hired restructuring advisors to prepare for a potential bankruptcy filing. Investors are watching out for February’s producer price index, due at 8:30 a.m. ET. The metric is a measurement of wholesale inflation. Economists polled by Dow Jones anticipate that headline PPI grew by 0.3% in February, or 0.2% when excluding food and energy prices. The PPI report is the last major piece of economic data to be released prior to the Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy meeting, set for March 19-20. The bigger market theme right now is the recent sell-off in the technology sector, according to Jay Woods, the chief global strategist of Freedom Capital Markets. Just two stocks in the Magnificent Seven cohort ended Wednesday higher — Alphabet and Amazon. At the same time, seven of the 11 S&P sectors ended the day on a positive note, with energy and materials leading the way. “The market has been able to withstand the lack of technology leadership and has broadened out. The Magnificent Seven story is over, thankfully,” Woods said. The strategist noted Apple and Tesla have continued to fall amid weakened sales in the China market and a lack of artificial intelligence-adjacent incentives. Meanwhile, the House’s recently passed bill — which could lead to a TikTok ban — may have larger ramifications both within the broader tech sector and in Chinese-linked equities. U.S. Treasury yields were flat Thursday as investors looked to additional inflation data that could inform Federal Reserve monetary policy decisions. The yield on the 10-year Treasury hovered near the flatline at 4.19%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last at 4.63%, also less than a basis point higher. Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Thursday after Wall Street’s tech-fueled rally dissipated, with investors focused on Japan’s spring wage negotiations and India’s wholesale inflation data. Japan’s Nikkei 225 reversed losses to rise 0.29%, while the broad-based Topix saw a larger gain of 0.30%, with defensive utilities stocks leading gains as investors remained cautious. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.94% to 2,718.76, while the Kosdaq index slipped 0.27%, finishing at 887.52 and snapping a four day winning streak. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 0.83% after climbing earlier in the day, while mainland China’s CSI 300 closed down 0.28% at 3,562.22. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 ended the day 0.2% lower, despite a rally by miners on the back of gold’s continued strength. Oil extended gains in Asian trade on Thursday after a surprise drop in U.S. crude stockpiles indicated strengthening demand, while possible supply disruptions following Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries also underpinned prices. Brent futures rose 10 cents, or 0.12%, to $84.13 a barrel at 0115 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 7 cents, or 0.9%, at $79.79 per barrel. Gold prices rose on Wednesday, buoyed by a weaker dollar, as investors held on to hopes of a June rate cut by the Federal Reserve despite a hot U.S. inflation print, while escalating geopolitical tensions kept bullion’s safe-haven demand intact. Spot gold gained nearly 0.9% to $2,176.06 per ounce. U.S. gold futures rose 0.7% to $2,181.80. The dollar index was down 0.2%, making gold cheaper for overseas buyers.
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