Dow Jones futures were in the red today, March 11, as traders waited for the upcoming US inflation data and as they focused on the ongoing war in Iran. It retreated to $47,600x, down by 6.12% from the highest point this year.
Dow Jones futures drops ahead of US Inflation report
The US stock market retreated on Wednesday as traders waited for the upcoming US consumer inflation report. Those tied to the Dow Jones dropped by 123 points, while those linked to the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 dropped by 10, 42, and 15 points, respectively.
Economists polled by Reuters expect the upcoming report to show that the headline and core inflation remained above 2% in February this year.
The average estimate is that the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.4% in February, while the core CPI remained at 2.5%.
Most analysts believe that inflation will continue rising because of the ongoing war in Iran. The war has pushed energy prices higher, with Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) jumped to $92 and $88. Natural gas has also soared by double digits in the past few weeks.
Oil prices jumped even after the International Energy Agency (IEA) proposed a massive release of emergency oil reserves to lower prices.
Most notably, gasoline price has surged in the past few weeks, with the average gas price hitting $3.5, the highest level since 2024. It has now jumped in the last 11 consecutive days, a trend that may continue in the near term as the war in Iran.
While Donald Trump has signaled that he wants a short war, Iran, on the other hand, has hinted that it will continue for much longer. Iran hopes to prevent future attacks by the two countries in the future.
The rising inflation odds explain why US bond yields are rising. Data shows that the ten-year yield rose to 4.17%, while the 30-year and year rose to 4.8% and 3.52%, respectively.
Oracle provided strong guidance
The other notable catalyst for the Dow Jones is the most recent Oracle earnings, which came out on Tuesday.
While Oracle is not a Dow Jones company, its results are used as a barometer for the booming artificial intelligence industry.
Oracle said that its revenue jumped to $17.18 billion, higher than the $16.9 billion that analysts were expecting. Its revenue jumped by 22% YoY, while its net income jumped to $3.7 billion. Most of its revenue growth came from its AI infrastructure business.
Looking ahead, the next key catalysts for the Dow Jones Index will be the upcoming Dollar General, Ulta Beauty, Lennar, and Adobe earnings,which will come out on Thursday.
The Dow Jones Index futures will also react to the upcoming US PCE report, which will come out on Friday. This is an important report as it is the Federal Reserve’s favorite inflation gauge.
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