Stock futures edged higher Friday as investors tried to wrap up a big week of inflation data on a strong note. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 74 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures climbed 0.2%, and Nasdaq-100 futures advanced 0.1%. Software provider Adobe dropped 11% on weak sales guidance. Beauty stock Ulta slid more than 6% after its full-year earnings forecast largely underwhelmed analysts. Those moves follow a losing day on Wall Street. The Dow slipped more than 100 points, or about 0.4%, to snap a three-day winning streak. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each fell around 0.3%. Thursday’s retreat came after February’s producer price index, a gauge of wholesaler inflation, advanced more than economists anticipated. Bond yields climbed in the session — with the benchmark 10-year Treasury’s reaching 4.29% — as investors wondered if the recent economic data was too strong for the Federal Reserve to loosen monetary policy. To be sure, fed funds futures are pricing in a 99% likelihood of the central bank keeping interest rates unchanged at its policy meeting next week, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. But recent economic releases could throw into question whether the Fed feels inflation has cooled enough to begin lowering levels later this year, said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott. “The path toward a 2% target rate has, at least of recent, been anything but linear,” Luschini said. “I think that’s enough just to … curb the enthusiasm, if you will, of market participants.” Luschini cautioned that a slide like Thursday’s can also be considered normal after recent gains. Despite the leg down, the Dow and S&P 500 are still tracking to end the week up around 0.5%, while the Nasdaq is on pace to add 0.3%. All three are also higher on the year. Investors will watch Friday morning for economic data on topics such as consumer sentiment, import prices and industrial production. U.S. Treasury yields were little changed on Friday as investors considered the outlook for interest rates after inflation data released Thursday came in higher than expected. The yield on the 10-year Treasury as down by 2 basis points at 4.279%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last less than one basis point higher at 4.692%. Asia-Pacific markets largely fell Friday after producer prices in the U.S. grew at a faster than expected 0.6% in February. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index plunged 1.5%, dragged by healthcare and tech stocks, while mainland China’s CSI 300 reversed losses to close 0.22% higher at 3,569.99. The Hang Seng is up 1.7% for the week. Meanwhile, the People’s Bank of China kept its one-year medium term lending facility rate unchanged at 2.5%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.26% lower at 38,707.64, while the Topix bucked the wider sell-off and edged 0.3% higher ending at 2,670.8. This comes as the country’s finance minister said that the country was “no longer in deflation,” a distinct break from previous positions. South Korea’s Kospi closed 1.91% lower at 2,666.84, while the small-cap Kosdaq dropped 0.8% to 880.46. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.56%, closing at 7,670.3 to hit its lowest level in about two weeks. Oil prices edged lower on Friday but were on track to gain nearly 4% for the week as sharp declines in U.S. crude and fuel inventories, drone strikes on Russian refineries and a rise in energy demand forecasts buoyed prices. Brent crude oil futures for May fell 41 cents, or 0.5%, to $85.01 a barrel at 1234 GMT, after crossing $85 a barrel for the first time since November on Thursday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for April fell 32 cents, or 0.4%, to $80.94. Gold eked out gains on Friday but was set for its first weekly drop in four weeks, as surprisingly hot U.S. inflation readings prompted traders to re-think on how swiftly and deeply the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates. Spot gold rose 0.3% at $2,168.10 per ounce but was on track for a weekly drop of about 0.5%, its first since mid-February. U.S. gold futures edged 0.3% up at $2,173.40.
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