Investing.com -- U.S. stock futures edged higher Tuesday, with investors expecting key inflation data later in the session to point to the Federal Reserve pausing its aggressive year-long monetary tightening cycle.
By 06:50 ET (10:50 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 5 points, less than 0.1%, S&P 500 Futures traded 6 points or 0.1% higher, and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 50 points or 0.3%.
The main Wall Street indices all closed higher Monday, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average adding nearly 190 points, or 0.6%, to a 6-week high, the S&P 500 gaining 0.9% to a fresh yearly high, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rising 1.5% to a 14-month peak.
U.S. CPI to guide sentiment
Helping sentiment has been the growing expectation that the U.S. central bank will pause its elongated series of rate hikes this week as the policymakers take a step back to consider how well its actions to date have worked to cool inflation.
The consumer price index for May is due later in the session and is coming just in time to help the Fed make its decision, with stocks likely to receive another boost if inflation data shows a substantial slowdown in price growth.
Analysts expect prices for May to rise 4.1% over the year, a sharp slowdown from 4.9% in April, while core prices, which strip out volatile food and energy, are seen rising 5.3% for the year, down from 5.5%.
According to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool, there is a more than 79% chance that the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee will vote to keep borrowing costs steady on Wednesday.
Aiding sentiment, China's central bank lowered a short-term lending rate for the first time in 10 months, as the authorities seek to boost the flagging recovery in the world's second-largest economy.
Oracle soars after upbeat forecast
In corporate news, Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) stock rose 5.2% premarket after the cloud and software company reported a strong fourth quarter revenue and forecast an upbeat first quarter, driven by growing demand for its cloud offerings from companies deploying AI.
Home improvement retailer Home Depot (NYSE:HD) is scheduled to hold its investor and analyst day later Tuesday amid a continued tough housing market, as consumers pull back their do-it-yourself project spending.
Oil rebounds ahead of OPEC monthly report
Oil prices edged higher Tuesday, recovering some of the previous session’s bruising losses on persistent concerns over the demand outlook in China and the U.S.
Both benchmarks dropped over 3.5% on Monday, falling to their lowest levels in almost three months, but traders have since readjusted their positions amid caution ahead of upcoming U.S. inflation data and the conclusion of a Federal Reserve meeting.
The latest monthly report from OPEC is due later in the session, as are weekly U.S. crude inventories from industry body American Petroleum Institute.
By 06:50 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 1.8% higher at $68.28 a barrel, while the Brent contract climbed 2% to $73.29.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,977.45/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.4% higher at 1.0801.
(Oliver Gray contributed to this item)