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The
personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index - the Fed's
preferred inflation gauge - is due to be released at 8:30 a.m.
ET (1330 GMT).
The data is expected to show prices ticked 0.3% higher on a
monthly basis in January. The core figure, which excludes
volatile food and energy prices, is also expected to increase
month-on-month.
Reports on consumer and producer prices earlier in February,
which signaled sticky inflation as well as a guarded approach
from Fed policymakers, led investors to push back expectations
of rate cuts to June.
At the beginning of this year, traders were betting on March as
the starting point for the Fed's easing cycle.
"A higher-than-anticipated (PCE) reading could put the final
nail in the coffin of the idea of a pivot to rate cuts before
the summer," AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould wrote in a
note.
Equities have struggled to make headway this week ahead of the
PCE data, given lack of any major market-moving catalysts.
Still, all three major Wall Street indexes are on track for
their fourth straight monthly advance, with the tech-heavy
Nasdaq in the lead, thanks to robust quarterly earnings and a
stellar rally driven by optimism around artificial intelligence
(AI).
Meanwhile, Democratic and Republican leaders in the U.S.
Congress on Wednesday announced they had reached a deal that
could avert government shutdowns on Saturday.
At 5:20 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 126 points, or 0.32%, S&P
500 e-minis were down 13.5 points, or 0.27%, and Nasdaq 100
e-minis were down 44.25 points, or 0.25%.
Salesforce shed 1.8% in premarket trading after projecting
annual revenue below analysts' estimates, while Snowflake
slumped 22.9% after the cloud data analytics company forecast
first-quarter product revenue below Wall Street estimates.
Shares of Paramount Global climbed 4.7% as the media
conglomerate posted a surprise profit on streaming gains.
Boeing slipped 1% after a report said the U.S. Department of
Justice is scrutinizing the planemaker's door plug blowout last
month.
AMC Entertainment dropped 8.2% after the theater chain posted a
bigger-than-expected quarterly loss on higher distribution costs
for Taylor Swift and Beyonce concert movies.
WW International slumped 23.7% after the weight-loss services
firm said director Oprah Winfrey decided not to stand for
re-election at the company's upcoming annual shareholder
meeting.
(Reporting by Amruta Khandekar; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
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