Friday December 9th

U.S. stock index futures rose slightly Friday as investors looked ahead to new inflation data. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 112 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively. Shares of Lululemon fell more than 6% after the company gave a weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter outlook. The S&P 500 on Thursday rallied to snap five days of losses — its longest streak since October. The broad-market index gained 0.75%, and the Dow gained 183.56 points, or 0.55%. The Nasdaq posted the strongest performance of the day, rallying 1.13%. Even with Thursday’s gains, all three major averages are on track for weely losses. The S&P 500 is off by 2.6%, while the Nasdaq is down more than 3%. The Dow shed 1.8%. Investors are awaiting the Friday release of the November producer price index report, poised to offer further information regarding how the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes are working to tame high inflation. ″[The stock market] really has been so dependent on inflation this year and it’s likely to continue to depend on inflation,” said Courtney Garcia, senior wealth advisor at Payne Capital Management, on CNBC’s “Fast Money” on Thursday. Next week, one more inflation print and a Federal Reserve meeting are top of mind for traders. The November consumer price index report due Dec. 13 will further show if inflation is subsiding. The central bank is widely expected to deliver a smaller interest rate hike of 50 basis points at the conclusion of its December policy meeting next week. The Hang Seng Index led gains in Asia-Pacific as China inflation data came in roughly in line with expectations. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced more than 2%, while the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 2.45%. Mainland China’s Shenzhen Component was 0.556% higher while the Shanghai Composite inched up 0.3%. China’s consumer price index rose 1.6% in November on an annualized basis, while its producer price index fell 1.3%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 1.18% at 27,901.01, while the Topix added 1.03% to stand at 1,961.56. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.53% to close at 7,213.2. The Kospi in South Korea gained 0.76% to 2,389.04, while the Kosdaq climbed 0.98%, closing at 719.49. Oil prices were stable on Friday but both benchmarks were headed for a weekly loss on worries over weak economic outlooks in China, Europe and the United States weighing on oil demand. Brent crude futures were at $76.46 a barrel, up 31 cents. Brent hit a 2022 low this week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 62 cents to $72.08 a barrel. The contracts are set for weekly losses of around 10% each, their worst weekly drops in percentage terms since August and April, respectively. Gold prices edged higher on Friday due to a weaker dollar, while investors held back making large bets ahead of U.S. inflation data and a slew of central bank meetings with key focus on the Federal Reserve. Spot gold was up 0.6% at $1,799.56 per ounce. U.S. gold futures rose 0.6% to $1,813.10.