US stock futures dip as investors await key inflation data
By Kanchana Chakravarty and Sukriti Gupta
(Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures edged lower on Wednesday as investors stayed cautious ahead of a key inflation reading and awaited more details from U.S.-China trade talks that preserved a tariff truce between the two superpowers.
The May consumer prices report (CPI) is due at 8:30 a.m. ET, with economists polled by Reuters expecting a 0.2% rise month-over-month and a 2.5% increase on an annual basis, slightly higher than April as tariffs potentially raised underlying price pressures.
"Markets appear to be shifting their focus - at least temporarily - away from headline-driven tariff risk and back to the macro data that really matters," said Jeff O'Connor, head of market structure at Liquidnet.
"Investors are bracing for the first hard evidence of how recent trade policies may be filtering into inflation."
Traders are pricing in 44 basis points of rate cuts by year-end, per data compiled by LSEG. They are penciling in a 52% chance of a 25 bps cut in September, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool. Policymakers are widely expected to keep rates unchanged next week.
U.S. and Chinese officials agreed on a framework to put their trade truce back on track and resolve China's export restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnets, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Tuesday, at the end of two days of intense negotiations in London. He did not provide further details on the agreement.
The negotiations, which are pending reviews from President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, were aimed at mitigating tit-for-tat tariffs between the two superpowers that have roiled global markets for much of the year.
The talks did little to lift sentiment among investors, who had priced the deal in to some extent.
The U.S. stock market has rallied in recent weeks, recovering from a slump in April sparked by Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs.
The S&P 500 remains about 1.7% below all-time highs touched in February, while the Nasdaq is 2.3% below its record peaks reached in December.
At 06:59 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 76 points, or 0.18%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 9.25 points, or 0.15%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 34.25 points, or 0.16%.
Among stocks, Tesla advanced 1.9% premarket after CEO Elon Musk said he regrets some of the posts he made last week about Trump, following an abrupt rift that has roiled the electric-vehicle maker's shares.
Software development platform provider GitLab fell 11.8% after reporting quarterly results.
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