Investors Prepare for Inflation Gauge, Futures Zoom



Stock futures rose Friday as the major averages head for weekly losses and investors anticipated a reading of the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials headed skyward 251 points, or 0.6%, to 40,443.

Futures for the S&P 500 index gained 44.25 points, or 0.8%, at 5,485.50.

Futures for the NASDAQ Composite popped 217.25 points, or 1.1%, to 19,209.50.

The S&P 500 is down 1.9% this week, while the NASDAQ has lost nearly 3.1%. The Dow is down roughly 0.9% week to date. Those declines come as investors seemed to be part of a broader rotation into small caps and more cyclical areas of the market.

Medical device maker Dexcom plunged about 38% after releasing disappointing fiscal full-year guidance. Footwear company Deckers reported fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue that exceeded analysts’ expectations, boosting shares by roughly 10%.

Friday, traders watched for June’s personal consumption expenditures price index, an inflation reading that’s preferred by central bank policymakers. On a monthly basis, headline PCE is expected to have grown by 0.1% and by 2.5% from 12 months earlier, according to economists polled by Dow Jones.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 declined 0.5% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index poked up 0.1%. Meanwhile, trading in Taiwan resumed Friday after being suspended due to a typhoon. The Taiex index was battered 3.3%.

Oil prices faded 25 cents to $78.03 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices heightened $20.10 to $2,373,60.