United States stock futures were little changed on Wednesday night (Thursday AEST) as investors awaited the release of the closely watched personal consumption expenditures index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure.
By 9:30 am AEST (11:30 pm GMT), Dow futures, S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were each up 0.1%.
The muted moves followed another record-setting session on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% to a fresh record close, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also eked out fresh closing highs.
In after-hours trading, Salesforce slipped 0.7% despite reporting first-quarter fiscal 2027 earnings and revenue above analyst expectations. However, investors remained cautious after the company issued a slightly softer full-year outlook and reported weaker-than-expected contracted backlog figures.
Snowflake surged 36% after the cloud data platform provider announced plans to spend US$6 billion (A$4.15 billion) on Amazon Web Services over the next five years. The company also posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results, reporting earnings per share of $0.39 compared with market expectations of $0.32. Revenue came in at $1.39 billion, ahead of forecasts for $1.32 billion.
HP Inc initially rallied following its quarterly earnings release before reversing course to trade 0.9% lower in extended dealings. The company reported earnings per share of $0.86, beating expectations of $0.71, while revenue totalled US$14.41 billion compared with analyst forecasts of US$13.99 billion.
Oil prices declined during Wednesday’s session after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said negotiations with Iran had shown some progress.
Speaking during a White House cabinet meeting, Rubio said the administration preferred “the negotiated diplomatic route and we’re going to give it every chance to succeed”.
President Donald Trump, however, reiterated that the United States would not allow Iran to control the Strait of Hormuz as part of any agreement.
Investor attention is now focused on the release of April’s personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index report, scheduled for release early in Thursday's U.S. session.
The inflation data is expected to carry added significance following the appointment of Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair, with markets seeking further clues on the future path of U.S. monetary policy.
Economists expect headline PCE inflation to rise 0.5% month-on-month and 3.8% from a year earlier. Core PCE inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, is forecast to increase 0.3% monthly and 3.3% annually.
Alongside the inflation report, investors will also monitor weekly jobless claims, April new home sales, personal income data and preliminary durable goods orders figures.
On the corporate calendar, earnings releases from Royal Bank of Canada, Dollar Tree, Hormel Foods, Burlington Stores and Kohl’s are also due later on Thursday.
