US pre-open: Stocks to jump as investors eye inflation print

(Sharecast News) - US futures pointed to a firmer open on Wall Street on Friday, with sentiment boosted by well-received results from Amazon and Intel, as investors eyed a key inflation reading. At 1205 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 futures were up 0.1% and 0.5%, respectively, while Nasdaq futures were 1% higher.

Investors will be mulling results from Amazon, which showed that third-quarter net income jumped to $9.9bn from $2.9bn in the same period a year earlier, while net sales rose 13% to $143.1bn.

Intel was also set to be in focus after better-than-expected third-quarter earnings.

Amazon was up 6.4% in pre-market trade, while Intel was 7.2% higher.

Looking ahead to the rest of the day, eyes will be on personal consumption expenditure figures for September at 1330 BST.

Tickmill Group said: "Stateside, the most significant data release today is the US PCE deflator for September, which is the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation. Similar to the previously released CPI figures, it's anticipated that headline PCE inflation will remain unchanged at 3.5%.

"However, the core measure, which excludes energy and food, is expected to decrease to 3.7% from the previous 3.9%. The declining trend in inflation, along with the recent increase in Treasury bond yields, contributes to the expectation that the Fed will maintain unchanged interest rates in its upcoming meeting next week.

"Nevertheless, robust economic activity, as indicated by the Q3 GDP report released yesterday, could potentially complicate the longer-term policy outlook. Strong personal spending figures projected for September suggest substantial momentum at the end of the quarter, which may carry over into Q4."

On the corporate front, Chevron and Exxon Mobil both released earnings before the bell.

Chevron reported third-quarter earnings of $3.05 per share, missing expectations of $3.75, but revenue of $54.1bn was ahead of forecasts.

It was a similar picture for Exxon, with third-quarter earnings per share of $2.27 missing forecasts of $2.37, but revenue of $90.8bn coming in ahead.

Chevron fell 2% in pre-market trade, while Exxon shares were flat.