S&P 500 futures edged higher early Tuesday as traders waited for the October consumer price index report. The move follows a Monday rally that gave the index its best day since April 8, after a week of tech-led selling.
S&P 500 futures added 0.17% early Tuesday, while Nasdaq-100 futures fell 0.18%. Traders are positioning ahead of the October consumer price index report due later in the day.
Monday's rally follows a rough week
During Monday's regular session, the S&P 500 rose about 2.4%, the Dow gained 1,104 points, or 2.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.7%. The gains came after a week in which traders grew concerned about a slowdown in data center buildouts following Democratic victories in the midterm elections.
Nvidia sat out the rally. Its shares slid 4% after CEO Jensen Huang admitted on Sunday to an affair with a woman whom, according to The New York Times, U.S. intelligence officials describe as a spy for China's Ministry of State Security. Meanwhile, WTI futures settled down more than 4% and Brent futures slid more than 5%, which lent the market support.
What economists expect from CPI
Economists polled by Dow Jones expect headline CPI to grow 0.3% and core CPI to rise 0.2% from the prior month. That would mark a slowdown from September, when headline CPI grew 0.6% and core CPI advanced 0.3%.
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee, however, flagged concerns about inflation on Monday. According to Goolsbee, the AI data center build-out is "starting to look more just like old-fashioned demand overheating".
Tuesday's report will not include annual figures. The Bureau of Labor Statistics was unable to collect some data during the 2025 government shutdown, so no comparable figure exists for the index.
Source: CNBC
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