Investing.com – Wall Street was set to rise on Thursday as investors shrugged off inflation concerns.
The S&P 500 futures rose 12 and a half points or 0.46% to 2,709.50 as of 6:40 AM ET (11:40 GMT) while Dow futures increased 227 points or 0.91% to 25,090.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures was up 37 points or 0.56% to 6,724.25.
Wall Street was volatile Wednesday morning after inflation data rattled markets but closed in the green. The consumer price index rose to 0.5% in January, beating expectations of a 0.3% rise, according to the Labor Department. The increase in inflation supports the Federal Reserve raising interest rates this year, with many analysts expecting three rate increases.
TripAdvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP) was among the biggest gainers in pre-market trading, surging 17.88% after it reported higher than expected growth in the fourth quarter despite a charge related to U.S. tax reform. Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) rose 7.46% after its earnings beat expectations while Teva Pharma Industries Ltd ADR (NYSE:TEVA) increased 6.83%.
Elsewhere SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR) fell 12.43% after reporting better than expected fourth quarter earnings but decreasing first quarter expectations due to the solar tariff imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump in January. Meanwhile oil firms were down, with BP (LON:BP) PLC ADR (NYSE:BP) inching down 0.64% and Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) PLC ADR (NYSE:RDSa) decreasing 1.24%.
In economic news, jobless claims, price producer index data, the Empire State manufacturing survey and the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey are all releases at 8:30 AM ET (1:30 GMT). Industrial production is scheduled for 9:15 AM ET (14:15 GMT) with the NAHB Housing Market Index following at 10:00 AM ET (15:00 GMT).
In Europe stocks were up. Germany’s DAX rose 89 points or 0.73% while in France the CAC 40 increased 69 points or 1.36% and in London, the FTSE 100 was up 39 points or 0.55%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 gained 23 points or 0.70% while Spain’s IBEX 35 surged 64 points or 0.67%.
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.27% to $1,354.30 a troy ounce while crude oil futures were up 0.17% to $60.70 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.27% to 88.67.