Investing.com -- U.S. stock futures edged higher Thursday, with investors awaiting the release of more inflation data as they look for increased clarity over the U.S. policy outlook.
By 06:30 ET (10:30 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 85 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 Futures traded 15 points, or 0.3%, higher and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 60 points, or 0.4%.
The three major Wall Street indices lost their earlier momentum on Wednesday, as investors tried to digest the August consumer prices report.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up closing 70 points, or 0.2%, lower, while the broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.1% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3%.
More inflation data to digest
The data showed that U.S. consumer prices increased by the most in 14 months in August as the cost of gasoline rose, but the annual rise in underlying inflation was the smallest in nearly two years.
The U.S. central bank is still widely projected to keep borrowing costs at a range of 5.25% to 5.50% at its upcoming meeting later this month, according to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
But the rise in the headline rate contradicted earlier inflation readings which had come in cooler than expected, creating uncertainty over whether Fed officials will opt to raise rates once more in either November or December.
There’s more data for the market, and the Fed, to digest later in the session, including more inflation data in the form of the August producer price index.
On a monthly basis, the PPI is seen accelerating to 0.4% from 0.3%, a jump of 1.2% annually from 0.8% the prior month. On a core basis, excluding volatile energy prices, PPI is expected to rise 2.2% annually, a monthly rise of 0.2%.
Additionally, retail sales growth is estimated to have slowed to 0.2% month-on-month from 0.7% in July, while the weekly number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits are predicted to have edged up by 9,000 to 225,000.
Arm to start trading after IPO
Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM) will be in the spotlight Thursday, as the British chip designer starts trading having priced its initial public offering at $51 apiece, touching the top end of its indicated range and securing a valuation of $54.5 billion.
The listing -- the largest since electric-truck maker Rivian Automotive 's (NASDAQ:RIVN) around $12B debut in 2021 -- was fueled by strong demand that saw the stock more than 12 times oversubscribed.
In terms of quarterly earnings, both home builder Lennar (NYSE:LEN) and computer software company Adobe Systems (NASDAQ:ADBE) are scheduled to post results after the market close Thursday.
Crude gains with the market seen remaining tight
Oil prices rose Thursday as supplies are set to stay tight this year, while confidence about the demand outlook remains strong even as U.S. crude stockpiles rise.
The International Energy Agency largely stuck by its estimates for demand growth this year and next in its monthly report, released Wednesday, joining the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in expecting oil markets to tighten further this year.
This helped traders look past U.S. oil inventories rising by 4 million barrels last week, confounding expectations for a drop of around 2 million barrels.
By 06:30 ET, the U.S. crude futures traded 1% higher at $89.38 a barrel, while the Brent contract climbed 0.9% to $92.73.
Additionally, gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,928.95/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.0732.
(Oliver Gray contributed to this item.)