U.S. stock futures and bond yields rose ahead of fresh inflation data that could influence the Federal Reserve’s timeline for reducing stimulus measures.
Futures for the S&P 500 gained 0.3% Friday. The index retreated Thursday but was on track for its strongest week of gains since February. Contracts for the tech-focused Nasdaq-100 rose 0.3% Friday, and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.1%.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect that U.S. inflation hit an almost four-decade high in November. Price pressures have been driven by strong demand and supply-chain woes related to the pandemic, as well as higher energy prices.
The Federal Reserve will hold a two-meeting meeting next week at which it may provide more details about how it plans to wind down its bond-buying program and when it plans to begin raising interest rates. Investors are waiting to see whether officials signal a faster end to stimulus than currently expected and how they characterize inflation.
“What we see is this lack of direction [in markets]: one day going up, one day going down and today what we are really looking to see are the U.S. inflation numbers,” said Frank Øland Winther, global chief strategist at Danske Bank.
In bond markets on Friday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note—which rises when prices fall—ticked up to 1.518%, from 1.486% Thursday. Brent crude futures, the benchmark in global oil markets, rose 0.2% to $74.55 a barrel, and were up 7.7% for the month.
In premarket trading,Oracle shares gained more than 10% after the database giant reported second-quarter results that beat estimates.Broadcom shares added more than 5% after the company posted better-than-expected results, provided strong January-quarter guidance, raised its dividend and announced a stock-repurchase program.
Overseas, the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.4%. Shares of auto maker Daimler fell more than 15% as its spun-off trucks business, Daimler Truck Holding, began trading in Germany on Friday.
Major indexes in Asia closed lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.1%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1%. South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.6% and China’s Shanghai Composite edged down 0.2%.
China Fortune Land Development’s shares rose 10% in Shanghai trading after the indebted property developer said creditors had approved a debt restructuring plan, potentially throwing it a lifeline. Concerns over China’s real-estate sector have weighed on markets this year, and this week, Fitch Ratings said China Evergrande Group and a second big property developer,Kaisa Group,had defaulted after missing U.S. dollar bond payments.