Wall Street is tracking higher early today ahead of new inflation data this week that will provide some insight into where prices are heading and how that is playing out for households and for the economy, according to the Associated Press.
The futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2%.
The U.S. releases monthly consumer prices on Wednesday, which is followed a day later by producer prices, the cost of goods before they reach the consumer. Both affect retail sales, and the U.S. releases August statistics on that front as well on Thursday.
Economists expect that consumer prices rose slightly in August, up 3.6% from a year ago. Inflation has been generally cooling since peaking above 9% last summer, but the worry is the last bit of improvement to get to the Fed’s 2% inflation target may prove the most difficult.
A recent surge in oil prices has added to worries that inflation may not be waning as much as hoped for in the U.S and other major economies. That could lead the Federal Reserve and other central banks to keep interest rates higher for longer, which would hurt prices for shares and other investments.
Yields in the bond market held relatively steady with the yield on the 10-year Treasury at 4.3%, up from 4.2% late Friday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, rose to 4.99% from 4.97%.
Early today, U.S. benchmark crude was down 62 cents at $86.89 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 64 cents to $87.51 a barrel on Friday. Brent crude, the pricing basis for international trading, lost 36 cents to $90.29 a barrel.
The U.S. dollar slipped to 146.78 Japanese yen from 146.99 yen after Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda reportedly hinted at a possible change in Japan’s long-standing near-zero interest rate policy.
