By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen opening marginally higher Thursday, rebounding after the inflation-induced losses of Wednesday despite a disappointing update from entertainment giant Disney .
At 7:05 AM ET (1205 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 60 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 Futures traded 18 points, or 0.4%, higher, while Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 107 points, or 0.7%.
The three major indices closed lower Wednesday, after U.S. consumer prices rose the most in 31 years, stoking fears that the Federal Reserve will be forced into raising interest rates sooner than previously expected.
The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 240 points, or 0.7%, the broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.8%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite suffered the most, falling 1.7%.
The driving force behind Wednesday’s losses was the U.S. consumer price index rising 6.2% in the 12 months through October, the highest annual rate of inflation since November 1990. The rise in prices was both broad-based and higher than expected on a monthly basis.
Activity could be muted Thursday with the bond market shut for Veterans Day.
Investor focus will mostly likely fall on Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS), after the entertainment and media conglomerate reported the smallest rise in Disney+ subscriptions since it launched the streaming video service to take on Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX). Its theme park division fell well short of projections, despite reopening after the pandemic.
Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) is also likely to be stay in the spotlight, the day after the aspiring electric vehicle maker recorded gains of more than 29% on its debut, after raising $12 billion in its IPO. It was the biggest IPO in the U.S. since Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) in 2014, and the biggest by a U.S. company since Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) in 2012.
Additionally, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) will remain in the spotlight after SEC filings showed CEO Elon Musk has sold around 4.5 million shares over the course of three days, around one-third of the stake sale he indicated was likely on Sunday.
Crude prices weakened Thursday, continuing the previous session’s losses on concerns the sharp rise in U.S. inflation, boosted by high energy costs, will prompt the Biden administration to release more strategic stockpiles.
President Joe Biden said he asked the National Economic Council to work to reduce energy costs, which may result in further SPR releases.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will update its forecasts for global supply and demand in its monthly report later.
By 7:05 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.9% lower at $80.58 a barrel, having dropped 3.3% on Wednesday, while the Brent contract traded 0.8% lower at $82.00, after falling 2.5% in the previous session.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.9% to $1,865.10/oz, while EUR/USD traded marginally lower at 1.1474.