By Peter Nurse
Investing.com -- U.S. stocks are seen opening firmly higher Friday, on course to end a three-week losing streak, as investors digest Fed chief Powell’s latest comments ahead of next week’s key inflation data.
At 07:00 ET (11:00 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 245 points or 0.8%, S&P 500 Futures traded 35 points or 0.9% higher, and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 140 points or 1.1%.
The major averages posted solid gains on Wall Street Thursday, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closing almost 200 points or 0.6% higher, the broad-based S&P 500 up 0.7%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite 0.6% higher.
Those gains put the three major indices on course to end the week higher, for the first time in four weeks, with the Dow up 1.5% through Thursday, the S&P 500 up 2.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite 2% higher.
That said, the overall tone remains one of caution with Fed chair Jerome Powell confirming on Thursday that the central bank was "strongly committed" to controlling inflation.
The Federal Reserve next meets in less than two weeks' time, and Powell’s comments largely cemented expectations of a hike of 75 basis points, although next week’s consumer price inflation data could further influence the policy makers’ thinking.
The August CPI release is due Tuesday, and the annual figure is expected to come in at 8.1%, a drop from July’s 8.5%, suggesting inflation pressures may have peaked.
U.S. equity funds had outflows of $10.9 billion in the week to Sept. 7, according to EPFR Global data collated by Bank of America, the biggest withdrawal in 11 weeks.
In the corporate sector, T-Mobile US (NASDAQ:TMUS) will be in the spotlight after the wireless carrier announced a $14 billion share buyback program that will run until September next year.
Chocolate giant Hershey (NYSE:HSY) announced plans to spend $90 million to open two new production lines in Mexico, while DocuSign (NASDAQ:DOCU) stock soared premarket after the software company posted better-than-expected second quarter results and raised its subscription revenue guidance for the year.
Oil prices rose Friday, rebounding from an eight-month low but are set for a second straight weekly decline as aggressive monetary policy tightening and China's COVID-19 curbs weighed on demand.
Data released Thursday by the Energy Information Administration showed a large buildup of U.S. crude inventories of 8.8 million barrels last week, more than that reported by the industry body API on Wednesday, creating doubts about the strength of demand from the world’s largest consumer.
However, this build is likely to have been exaggerated by the government releasing crude stockpiles from the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
By 07:00 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 1.8% higher at $85.02 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 1.8% to $90.72. Both contracts were set to lose over 3% for the week, their second straight week of losses.
Additionally, gold futures rose 1% to $1,737.55/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.9% higher at 1.0084.