Futures Flat Ahead of More Inflation Data

Stock futures traded near the flatline Thursday after the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite scaled to new records with investors gearing up for more data to assess the state of the U.S. economy. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials began Thursday down three points to 45,022. Futures for the S&P 500 were lower four points, or 0.1%, to 6,484.75 Futures for the NASDAQ gave back 14.5 points, or 0.1%, to 23,932. In premarket trading Thursday, shares of Cisco fell 1% on the heels of the major tech company’s fourth-quarter results narrowly beating expectations. Deere shares lost more than 7% on mixed full-year guidance. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ reached fresh intraday and closing record highs on Wednesday, rising 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively. The benchmarks got a jolt this week after the release of a cooler-than-expected inflation report for July. That report stoked hopes among investors for a rate cut from the Federal Reserve at the end of its September policy meeting. More economic data releases are on the docket for Thursday. July’s producer price index reading — as well as jobless claims data for the week ended Aug. 9 — is slated for release at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists polled by Dow Jones are expecting the measure of wholesale prices to show a 0.2% rise on the month. The index had come in flat in June. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 stumbled 1.5% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng slid 0.4%. Oil prices nudged up six cents to $62.71 U.S. a barrel. Gold prices lost $3.90 at $3,404.40 U.S. per ounce.