U.S. futures are pointing higher before the release of key inflation data for July that could provide a better idea of where prices are heading.
Futures for the S&P 500 gained 0.3% Wednesday and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1%. Nasdaq futures gained 0.7%.
Rising costs are being closely watched by the Federal Reserve as well as Republicans facing tough midterm elections and millions of Americans struggling with higher prices for everything from groceries to gasoline. Economists expect new data to show to show inflation slipped to 3.4% in July from 3.5% in June.
Cooler inflation could relieve pressure on the Fed to raise interest rates. Higher rates could curb inflation also would drag on the overall U.S. economy by making it more expensive for households and businesses to borrow money. Higher rates also would undercut prices for stocks and other investments.
Shares of cloud computing company CoreWeave surged more than 18% and Super Micro Computer’s stock jumped nearly 9% before the market opened on strong quarterly results. CoreWeave more than doubled its revenue as customer demand accelerated in the second quarter. The strong earnings gave a boost to other companies involved in building the physical infrastructure of artificial intelligence data centers including Coherent Corp., Lumentum Holdings and Marvell Technology.
