Wall St eyes higher open on Amazon, Intel boost; inflation data in focus

WALL Street was set to open higher on Friday as robust forecasts from Amazon.com and Intel lifted beaten-down megacaps, while investors also drew comfort from data that showed inflation rose largely in line with expectations.

Amazon.com gained 5.2% in premarket trading after saying growth in its cloud business was stabilizing following new deals. However, it warned that customers remained wary about spending heading into the holiday quarter.

Intel advanced 7.1% after forecasting fourth-quarter revenue and margins above estimates. Other chip stocks including Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia added 2.7% and 1.8%, respectively.

Megacaps Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Tesla and Alphabet were up between 0.5% and 2.3%.

The personal consumption expenditures price index, considered to be the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, climbed 0.4% in September compared with an estimated 0.3% rise.

The core inflation which excludes volatile food and energy components rose 0.3%, meeting estimates.

The annual headline PCE rose 3.4% and core inflation rose 3.7%, also along expectations.

“There’s a lot of evidence of disinflation really kicking in throughout the economy,” said David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation.

“The Fed seems to have accomplished a lot of what they were trying to do in terms of inflation but then we have a very strong job market, very strong GDP and the Fed really has no incentive to change their policy anytime soon.”

Futures contracts tracking Federal Reserve’s policy rate rose on Friday, reflecting increased confidence among traders that the central bank will not raise borrowing costs any further.

All the three benchmark indexes are set for weekly and monthly losses with investors assessing earnings and a slew of data for clues on the economy’s strength.

At 8:47 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 12 points, or 0.04%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 17.25 points, or 0.42%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 121.5 points, or 0.86%.

Chevron fell 2.1% after the oil major reported a drop in third-quarter profit while shares of Exxon Mobil , which posted a near 54% year-on-year plunge in earnings but a higher profit from the prior quarter, advanced 0.5%.

Toothpaste-maker Colgate-Palmolive rose 1.3% after raising its annual organic sales and profit forecasts for a third time this year.

Ford Motor lost 4.1% after withdrawing its full-year results forecast due to “uncertainty” over the pending ratification of its deal with the United Auto Workers union, and warning of continued pressure on electric vehicles.

Enphase Energy dipped 15.4% after the solar inverter maker forecast fourth-quarter revenue below estimates.

The tensions in the Middle East were also on investors’ radar, with a Hamas official tying the release of hostages to a ceasefire in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, launched after a deadly rampage by Hamas militants into southern Israel nearly three weeks ago. – Reuters