US stock index futures were mixed on Tuesday as investors braced for a pivotal inflation report and earnings from Wall Street’s biggest banks. The earnings season could prove a key test for this year’s equity rally, which has lifted the benchmark S&P 500 by about 10%.
Inflation Report Expected
June consumer price index data, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, is expected to show inflation eased last month. However, a slowdown may offer little reassurance to households and markets, with Middle East tensions threatening to lift energy costs again, keeping the Federal Reserve on guard.
According to Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, “Gasoline prices are already back above June levels, meaning the next inflation report will heat up again. So today’s CPI figures may matter less than the re-escalating geopolitical tensions.”
Fed Chair to Deliver Monetary Policy Report
The data will be followed by remarks from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, who is scheduled to deliver the central bank’s semi-annual monetary policy report to Congress at 10 a.m. ET. Investors were also unsettled by hawkish comments from Fed Governor Christopher Waller, who said on Monday that the central bank may need to raise interest rates “in the near term” if inflation remains well above its 2% target.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
