United States stock futures were little changed on Wednesday evening (Thursday AEST), following a modestly negative session on Wall Street as investors digested softer-than-expected inflation data and awaited further insights from the upcoming producer price index report.
At 9:15 am AEST (11:15 pm GMT), futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were down 0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.3%.
In after-hours trading, Oracle surged 7.1% after posting better-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings per share (EPS) reported at $1.70 versus $1.64 expected, while revenue came in at US$15.9 billion versus $15.58 billion forecast.
In contrast, Oxford Industries dropped 8.3% after reporting EPS of $1.82 compared to $2.66 a year earlier, and $392.86 million in revenue, down 1.3% from the same period last year.
The muted movement in futures follows a downbeat day on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished flat, the S&P 500 fell 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.5%.
Wednesday's market action came after new data showed consumer prices rose less than expected in May. The consumer price index (CPI) increased 0.1% for the month, below the 0.2% forecast. Core CPI, which strips out food and energy, also undershot expectations.
Attention now shifts to the producer price index (PPI) for May, due later in Thursday's session. Markets anticipate a 0.2% monthly increase, while the core PPI, excluding food and energy, is expected to rise 0.3%.
