US stock futures wavered around the flat line on Thursday morning as a reading of December inflation The result was slightly stronger than economists expected, raising new questions about the Federal Reserve's path on interest rates.
S&P 500 (^GSPC) futures fell about 0.1% after the benchmark index ended on wednesday at its highest close since January 2022, on the verge of reaching a new record. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) ranged around the flat line, while those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) also fell about 0.1%.
Stocks have struggled this week as investors count down to the US Consumer Inflation Reading for December. That reading showed a slightly larger jump than expected, as prices rose 0.3% month over month and 3.4% year over year. On a "core" basis, inflation rose 3.9% over the past year.
The impression was seen as critical for merchants who have been increasingly pricing on the odds of a "soft landing"", where inflation falls to 2% without an economic recession, since the last CPI report.
Meanwhile, cryptocurrency stocks got a boost after the The SEC gave regulatory approval for US spot bitcoin ETFs to begin trading on Thursday, seen as a turning point for the sector. Shares on Coinbase exchange (CURRENCY) and the Marathon Digital miner (MARA) were among those rising in pre-market trading.
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) rose above $47,000 to trade at its highest levels since March 2022, while its rival ether (ETH-USD) jumped in the middle of bets The second largest token is next to receive the green light from the ETF.
Ahead of its quarterly financial update on Friday, Citigroup (c) said he will take more than $3 billion in non-recurring reserves and expenses in results. Fourth quarter earnings season is crucial for stocksgiven their dismal performance this year so far.
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