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Higher inflation adds pressure on the Fed to keep interest rates
elevated, pushing traders to rein in bets of a June rate cut by
the Fed to 60% from 73% last week, according to the CME FedWatch
Tool.
All eyes are now on the Fed meeting next week and how soon the
central bank could kick off the rate-easing cycle.
"At the Fed, the big question next week is what they'll signal
in their new dot plot, and whether the median dot still points
towards three cuts for 2024, as happened in December," Jim Reid,
Deutsche Bank's global head of economics and thematic research,
said in a note.
At 05:04 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 13 points, or 0.03%, S&P
500 e-minis were up 1.5 points, or 0.03%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis
were down 6.5 points, or 0.04%.
Semiconductor stocks fell on Thursday and were on track to snap
their three-week winning streak as investors took profits,
awaiting the global GTC developer conference from March 18 to 21
for AI-related announcements.
Tesla climbed 1% in premarket trading, after two sessions of
more than 4% losses each.
Madrigal Pharmaceuticals jumped 25.4% after the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration approved its drug for a fatty liver disease
known as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.
Adobe shed 11.4% after it forecast second-quarter revenue below
analysts' estimates, following stiff competition and weak demand
for its AI-integrated photography, illustration and video.
Ulta Beauty slid 6.6% after it forecast full-year profit below
Wall Street estimates as elevated supply-chain costs and
increased promotions hurt its margins.
Crypto stocks such as MicroStrategy, Marathon Digital and
Coinbase eased between 5% and 6% as bitcoin fell.
U.S. Steel slipped 0.7%, extending the previous session's
losses. President Joe Biden said on Thursday the company, which
has agreed to be bought by Japan's Nippon Steel for $14.9
billion, must remain a domestically owned American firm.
(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by
Pooja Desai)
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