S&P 500 futures rose Thursday as oil prices retreated and investors awaited July producer price data for clues on the Federal Reserve's rate path. The move follows a benign consumer inflation reading that lifted the S&P 500 to its first higher close in three sessions, while earnings from Cisco, Cerebras and Dell moved individual stocks sharply.
Futures tied to Wall Street's main indexes edged higher early Thursday. At 5:47 a.m. ET, S&P 500 E-minis were up 12.5 points, or 0.16%, while Dow E-minis added 128 points, or 0.24%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis gained 5.5 points, or 0.02%.
Oil retreats as inflation data looms
Crude prices pulled back after a run of gains. Brent crude futures fell 1.9%, snapping six straight sessions of increases as investors weighed weaker global demand prospects against higher U.S. crude stocks. Iran and the United States remain at odds over a permanent end to the Middle East war, and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz stayed severely curtailed.
Investors are now awaiting the July producer price index, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, for clues on the Fed's rate path. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect the reading to rise 0.2% from the prior month. The producer price index gauges what wholesalers pay for raw goods and materials.
A benign CPI report shifts rate odds
The producer price report follows a July consumer price index reading that matched expectations. CPI rose 0.1% month over month in July, and the tame print gave the S&P 500 a boost, with the benchmark closing higher for the first time in three sessions. The report led traders to pare expectations for an interest rate hike in September.
Money market participants now see a 66% chance the Fed holds rates steady, up from roughly even odds between a hike and a pause the day before, according to CME's FedWatch tool. Later Thursday, a weekly jobless claims report and commentary from Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack and Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin are also on investors' radar.
Earnings move individual names
PC makers Dell Technologies and HP gained 4% and 1.8% in premarket trading after earnings from China's Lenovo beat expectations. Dow component Cisco Systems, however, dropped 6% despite forecasting fiscal 2027 revenue above Wall Street expectations.
Cerebras Systems slumped more than 18% after the AI chip designer missed quarterly revenue estimates. Its shares had rallied roughly 24% over the prior four sessions. Most megacap and growth stocks traded higher, with Alphabet, Amazon and Apple all up about 0.5% each.
More than 430 S&P 500 companies have already reported for the quarter ended June, and robust earnings across several sectors have supported U.S. stocks after a rocky start to the second half of 2026. The Dow and the S&P 500 hovered close to record highs, while the Nasdaq sat about 2% from its all-time high after rebounding from a slump of more than 10% below that level two weeks earlier.
Sources: Investing.com, CNBC
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