Stock futures rise slightly ahead of key inflation data, Fed minutes

Stock futures ticked higher Tuesday night as investors awaited the latest inflation numbers and the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 44 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were each up about 0.2%.

The moves came after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell 0.65% and 1.1%, respectively, to post their fifth straight day of declines. The Dow ended the day on a higher note, up about 36 points, but gave back most of its gains from a rally earlier in the session.

Stocks fell off their highs and bond yields ticked up when the Bank of England said its market intervention will be over soon and pension funds have just three days to rebalance positions.

Investors are looking forward to the September producer price index, a gauge of final-demand wholesale prices, due to be released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones are expecting headline PPI to increase 0.2%, after declining 0.1% in the previous month.

The minutes from the Federal Reserve’s September meeting will also be released Wednesday. While Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has acknowledged that aggressive interest rate increases could be painful, the central bank will continue to charge forward in its fight to lower inflation.

“Powell has repeated, in what has become his mantra, that without price stability we cannot have a strong economy or a strong labor market,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial. “Investors are concerned that restrictive monetary policy, that is, tighter financial conditions, could lead to the kind of financial accident that dries up liquidity and delivers more harm to the global economy.”

Elsewhere, PepsiCo will report its quarterly earnings before the bell Wednesday. Bank earnings will kick off later in the week. Despite lower expectations, S&P 500 earnings are still expected to grow.