US pre-open: Futures firmly in the red ahead of PCE reading
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Thursday 30 Jun 2022
(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were firmly in the red ahead of the bell on Thursday, with the S&P 500 set to deliver its worst first first-half performance in more than half a century.
As of 1235 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 1.16%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 1.37% and 1.64% lower, respectively.
The Dow closed 82.32 points higher on Wednesday as market participants digested comments from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell at the European Central Bank forum.
Thursday's primary focus will be last month's core personal consumption expenditures index, the central bank's preferred measure of inflation, at 1330 BST. Economists expect to see a year-on-year increase of 4.8% for May.
Comments from Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland president Loretta Mester were also drawing an amount of investor attention after saying she was in favour of a 75 basis point hike at the Fed's upcoming July meeting, assuming current economic conditions persist, were also drawing an amount of investor attention.
Interactive Investors' Richard Hunter said: "Central bank comments did little to alleviate the gloom from markets, resulting in mixed performances and a continuation of the difficult outlook. At the ECB forum in Portugal, the Federal Reserve maintained that its primary objective remains on reining in inflation, although conceding that this could come at the cost of recession. Chair Powell reiterated the view, however, that the US economy remained in sufficient health to withstand the monetary tightening of the screws.
"For the US, the release of the latest Personal Consumption Expenditures index, a preferred Fed gauge of inflation, will provide further clues on consumers' willingness or otherwise to spend. With more recent data suggesting that this vital cog of the US economy may be withdrawing in the face of higher energy and food prices, the shift of consumer estimates adds pressure to the importance of the release. As the end of the first half of 2022 approaches, the combination of factors which has plagued markets so far this year has led to the Dow Jones and S&P500 on track for their worst quarter since 2020 at the outset of the pandemic. The Nasdaq meanwhile looks set to deliver its worst performance since 2008, with the index standing down by almost 29% in the year to date."
On the macro front, May's PCE price index will be published at 1330 BST, as will last month's personal income data and weekly jobless claims numbers, while the Chicago PMI will follow at 1445 BST.
In the corporate space, Simply Good Foods said retail takeaway revenues increased 14.4% across the US in the thirteen weeks ended 29 May, while Constellation Brands reported Q1 earnings of $389.5m and profits of $2.06 per share.
Walgreens Boots Alliance and Micron Technology will both update on recent trading later in the day.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
Email this article to a friend
or share it with one of these popular networks:
You are here: news
10 Lower Thames St,
London EC3R 6EN