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Data
showed that retail sales fell more than expected in August amid
weak purchases of automobiles and a range of other goods,
pointing to cooling domestic demand.
A separate report showed the number of Americans filing for
unemployment benefits rose less than expected last week,
pointing to a further tightening in labor market conditions.
"We're right now in a Goldilocks economy. It's not too hot, it's
not too cold. It's just right to keep the Fed on the sidelines
and keep interest rates right where they are," said Paul Nolte,
portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago.
Investors have been fretting over the possibility of a rate hike
when the data-dependent Federal Reserve holds its policy-setting
meeting next week, especially after contrasting comments from
Fed officials in the past few days.
Traders slashed the odds of a hike in September to 9 percent
from 15 percent after the data, and pushed down the chances of a
December move to 46.2 percent from 52.8 percent, according to
the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
Dow e-minis <1YMc2> were up 36 points, or 0.2 percent at 8:56
a.m. ET, with 39,820 contracts changing hands.
S&P 500 e-minis <ESc2> were up 3.5 points, or 0.15 percent, with
313,514 contracts traded.
Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc2> were up 14.25 points, or 0.31 percent,
on volume of 44,633 contracts.
Supporting futures was a near 1 percent rebound in oil prices,
after two days of steep declines, following an unexpected drop
in U.S. crude inventories. [O/R]
Shares of Apple <AAPL.O> were up 1.5 percent in premarket
trading, set for its fourth straight day of gains, after the
company said the first batch of the iPhone 7 Plus sold out.
Aerie Pharmaceuticals <AERI.O> soared more than 70 percent to
$36.21 after its eye drug was successful in a trial.
Bluebird <BLUE.O> rose 4.15 percent to $65.50 after Goldman
Sachs added the biotechnology company to its conviction list
with a "buy" rating.
(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by
Savio D'Souza)
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