Futures Rise Ahead of PCE Inflation Reading; Oil Prices Pull Back Slightly But Remain Elevated

Stock futures gained ahead of a key inflation reading Friday, but the three major equities indexes poised to close lower for the week as oil prices remain elevated.

Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq 100 futures pointed up a respective 0.4%, 0.3%, and 0.3% in recent trading.

Yesterday, the major indexes all sank at least 1.5%, with the Dow shedding 739 points, as oil prices surged amid deepening concerns about supply disruptions. The Dow entered Friday down 1.7% for the week, while the S&P 500 was off 1% and the Nasdaq was 0.3% lower.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the U.S. oil-price benchmark, declined 2% to $94 a barrel early Friday but remain well above the roughly $67-a-barrel level before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Brent crude, the global benchmark, was down 1% at $99.50 a barrel after closing above $100 a barrel for the first time since August 2022 yesterday.

To help keep prices in check, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday the U.S. would allow temporarily countries to buy Russian oil already at sea. In addition, the International Energy Agency said it would release a record 400 million barrels of strategic reserves to stabilize prices amid “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.”

Investors will be focused on the delayed release of the January Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists expect inflation is to have risen 0.3% month-over-month, down from 0.4% in December, and 2.9% year-over-year, the same as the prior month. “Core” inflation is expected to remain at 0.4% month-over-month and tick higher to 3.1% from 3.0% year-over-year. The Fed meets next week and is widely expected to keep interest rates steady.

Before the reading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects interest rates on all sorts of consumer loans, ticked below 4.26% from Thursday’s close around 4.27%—its highest closing level since Feb. 4.

Gold futures slipped 0.5% to $5,100 an ounce, while silver futures declined 2% to around $83.50 an ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of currencies, was up 0.4% to 100.11. Bitcoin was trading around $72,400, up from overnight lows around $70,000.

In post-earnings moves, shares of Adobe (ADBE) slumped 8% in premarket trading after CEO Shantanu Narayen plans to step down after 18 years on the job, while those of Ulta Beauty (ULTA) sank 7.5% on soft full-year profit and comparable sales forecasts.

Shares of the Magnificent Seven tech giants were mostly slightly higher before the bell. All finished lower yesterday, with Tesla (TSLA) leading declines at more than 3%.

CF Industries (CF), Mosaic (MOS), and Nutrien (NTR) shares added 1% to 3% premarket to their recent rallies as fertilizer producers stand to benefit from supply disruptions due to halted transit through the Strait of Hormuz.