By Shashwat Chauhan and Ankika Biswas
(Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set for a muted open on Thursday after data showed consumer prices rose more than expected in September, although underlying price pressures eased, cementing bets the Federal Reserve will keep rates steady next month.
The Labor Department report showed U.S. consumer prices rose 0.4% in September versus estimates of a 0.3% rise, according to economists polled by Reuters. Prices rose to 3.7% against estimates of 3.6% in the 12 months through September.
Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.3% in line with estimates.
"CPI is still headed in the right direction, but markets are just not quite sure yet and don't seem to be liking it," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth.
"The Fed, in my opinion, is going to remain on hold and probably a little bit more wary of where inflation is settled."
U.S. benchmark 10-year yields rose 4.603%, after trading lower before the consumer prices data.
Another set of data showed jobless claims rose 209,000 for the week ended Oct. 7, lower than an estimated 210,000 rise.
Boston Fed President Susan Collins said on Wednesday while the odds of the economy escaping a recession have grown, it's possible the central bank is not done with interest rate hikes aimed at bringing inflation back to its target.
Remarks from other Fed policymakers, including Atlanta's Raphael Bostic, are also expected on Thursday.
Minutes of the Fed's Sept. 19-20 meeting showed a growing sense of uncertainty around the path of the U.S. economy, with volatile data and tightening financial markets posing risks to growth.
Meanwhile, Israel said there would be no humanitarian exceptions to its siege of the Gaza Strip until all its hostages were freed.
Public broadcaster Kan said the Israeli death toll had risen to more than 1,300, while Gaza authorities said 1,354 Palestinians have been killed and more than 6,000 wounded in retaliatory bombings.
At 8:44 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 50 points, or 0.15%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 3.5 points, or 0.08%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 1 points, or 0.01%.
Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) rose 2.6% in premarket trading after reporting a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit. Other airline stocks such as American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) Group, Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) and United Airlines Holdings rose more than 1%.
Ford fell 2.2% after the United Auto Workers union shut down the company's biggest plant globally.