US pre-open: Futures rise but investors nervous ahead of key CPI reading

11th Sep 2026 11:46

(Sharecast News) - US stock futures were pointing to a moderate rebound on Wall Street on Friday after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both hit six-week lows the previous session, though sentiment remains fragile following the recent surge in oil prices and continued uncertainty in the Middle East.

The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were all seen 0.6% higher in pre-market activity, as investors await a crucial US inflation reading for August, due out at 1330 BST.

Analysts expect consumer prices to have risen at a year-on-year rate of 3.4% in August, in line with July and firmly lower than the four-year high of 4.2% reached in May, while core inflation is tipped to have eased to 2.4% from 2.5%.

The data follows a blowout non-farm payrolls figure last week, and Thursday's latest US producer price index, which showed that factory gate inflation accelerated to 5.4% in August from 4.8% the month before, as energy prices jumped.

"The CPI report in the US is the key macro event for today, and it could decide if the Fed hikes rates next week. Currently there is a 67% chance of a hike, down from 71% on Thursday," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

"Overall, a backwards CPI report is less important for financial markets today than real-time movements in the oil price, so if CPI comes in roughly in line with expectations, market moves could be limited."

Helping to repair market sentiment ahead of the inflation data was a 3.8% drop in the price of Brent crude to $103.56 a barrel, following a 6% jump the previous session to $107.63, its highest level since mid-May.

Bond yields also cooled - down 2.6 basis points at 4.943% - after jumping to a three-year high of 4.967% on Thursday.

In equity news, Oracle shares climbed ahead of the opening bell after results released after the close showed a better-than-expected fiscal first quarter. The software group reported revenues of $19.35bn, ahead of the $19.14bn consensus forecast, as cloud infrastructure sales more than doubled.