Stock Futures Mixed Ahead of Inflation Data; Oracle Stock Soars on Boosted Outlook

U.S. stock futures were mixed before a report on producer prices Wednesday, a day after major indexes set fresh all-time closing highs. Futures associated with the tech-heavy Nasdaq and benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively, while those tied to the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1%.

The Federal Reserve will be closely monitoring the release of the latest monthly Producer Price Index (PPI) reading today and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures tomorrow ahead of its meeting next week. Several recent reports showing a weakening of the U.S. labor market have convinced market participants that the Fed is about to embark on a series of rate cuts after having stood pat on rates this year amid uncertainty about the impact of tariffs.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which affects borrowing costs on a wide range of consumer and business loans, was little changed from Tuesday’s close at 4.09%. The yield hit its lowest level since early April on Monday as the rate-cut expectations increased.

Oracle (ORCL) shares soared 30% in premarket trading after the company boosted its outlook amid booming artificial intelligence demand. Shares of AI chipmakers Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Nvidia (NVDA) rose about 4% and 2%, respectively.

Shares of meme stock GameStop (GME) jumped 10% as the videogame retailer announced its bitcoin holdings surpassed $500 million at the end of the second quarter. U.S.-listed shares of Novo Nordisk (NVO) rose slightly as the Danish maker of weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic announced it would be laying off about 9,000 employees.

Gold futures hit their latest all-time high early Thursday and were trading just below $3,700 an ounce.

West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, rose nearly 1% to about $63.25 per barrel, on pace for a third straight day of increases after falling to their lowest level in three months last week.

Bitcoin was at nearly $112,300, up from an overnight low of about $111,300. The cryptocurrency has come under pressure in recent weeks after hitting a record high of more than $124,000 in mid-August.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the U.S. dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, was little changed at 97.81.