By Medha Singh
(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures slipped on Wednesday as investors cautiously awaited inflation data that could force the Federal Reserve to reconsider its ultra-loose monetary policy.
The U.S. consumer price index (CPI) is expected to rise 0.2% in April after jumping 0.6% in March, while year-over-year CPI is expected to gain 3.6%, data at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT) is likely to show.
Rising commodity prices and signs of a labor shortage have fueled worries over rising prices this week, triggering a broad selloff that sent the S&P 500 2% below its record closing high on Friday, even as the Fed has reassured that any inflationary pressures would be transient.
At 6:23 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 71 points, or 0.21%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 10 points, or 0.24%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 62.5 points, or 0.47%.
Futures tracking the small-cap Russell 2000 index dropped 1%.
Among mega-cap names, Facebook Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Apple, Netflix Inc, Google-parent Alphabet Inc, Microsoft Corp and Tesla Inc fell between 0.4% and 0.9%.
Streaming platform FuboTV surged 20% after it raised its full-year revenue and subscription forecasts.
Electronic Arts Inc inched up 1.2% as it forecast annual adjusted revenue above analysts’ estimates, betting that demand for its titles like “FIFA 21” and “Apex Legends” would stay strong.
(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
