Stock market today: US futures tread water ahead of Easter break and PCE inflation
US stocks are set to open flat on the last day of the quarter, as investors held back ahead of Friday's PCE data.
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- US futures were trading flat ahead of the opening bell on Thursday.
- It's the last day of first-quarter trading before markets close for the Easter break.
- The S&P 500 is poised to post its best first quarter since 2019.
US futures dipped ahead of the opening bell on the final day of the first quarter for 2024.
S&P 500 futures were down about 0.1% shortly before 6 a.m. ET. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 0.15%, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell by 0.07%.
After a three-day losing streak, stocks rallied across the board on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.86% to close at another record high. The Dow had its best day for the year so far, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.51%.
Yields on 10-year US Treasury notes were steady in pre-market trading. The dollar surged on Wednesday as Japan's yen tumbled.
Yields on Treasurys jumped following Fed Governor Christopher Waller's remarks that there was no rush to lower interest rates, and he wanted to see "at least a couple months of better inflation data" before cutting.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, was up 0.25%.
Thursday is the last day of trading in the first quarter, before markets close for the Easter break on Friday.
The S&P 500 is poised to close out its best first quarter since 2019, with gains of about 10%. The Dow is up 5.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite is up 9.3% in the quarter.
Investors will be eyeing economic data on jobless claims, gross domestic product, and consumer sentiment due later.
The PCE, the Fed's favored inflation gauge, will be released on Friday along with personal income and consumer spending data.
Waller's hawkish comments on Wednesday signaled more caution about the upside in inflation than expressed by Powell last week.
He suggested it's "appropriate to reduce the overall number of rate cuts or push them further into the future in response to the recent data", specifically referring to the recent inflation data as "disappointing".