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The imminent release of the September consumer price inflation report is keeping sentiment guarded as the index futures trade modestly lower early Thursday. Traders may have to navigate past the September consumer price inflation report and the weekly jobless claims data, both of which have implications for rates. The inflation data is widely expected to confirm the sustained downtrend, while jobless claims may have perked up in the recent week.

China announced stimulus to support the domestic stock market, which sent stocks in the mainland and Hong Kong higher. Crude oil and gold are all weaker but the bond yield has ticked. Traders may stay focused on the after-effects of Hurricane Milton and the simmering tensions in the Middle East.

Futures Performance (+/-) Nasdaq 100 -0.15% S&P 500 -0.12% Dow -0.09% R2K -0.24%

In premarket trading on Thursday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY edged down 0.13% to $576.41 and the Invesco QQQ ETF QQQ moved down 0.16% to $492.35, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Cues From Last Session:

Strength in IT, financial, industrial and healthcare stocks pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index to fresh records on Wednesday. The S&P 500 Index also clocked a new intraday high. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also rose, it ended at its highest level since July 16.

Stocks largely ignored the Hurricane Milton threat, which made its landfall in Florida, and digested comments from Fed officials and also information gleaned out of the Fed minutes.

Among S&P 500 sector classes, only communication services and utility stocks experienced some weakness.

Index Performance (+/) Value Nasdaq Composite +0.60% 18,291.62 S&P 500 Index +0.71% 5,792.04 Dow Industrials +1.03% 42,512.00 Russell 2000 +0.26% 2,200.59

Insights From Analysts:

A Morgan Stanley strategist on Wednesday weighed on the impact of the potential trade policies of the two presidential candidates. “Trade policy is among the top policy areas that may be most sensitive to the presidential election result,” said Monica Guerra, Head of Policy, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

The impact of tariffs on the economy could be wide-ranging, pressuring consumers and affecting growth, inflation and stock market performance, she said. Vice President Kamala Harris’ trade policy appears to be a continuation of President Joe Biden's, but is still opaque, creating some uncertainty for investors, while Republican candidate Donald Trump’s proposals included increasing tariffs on China as well as a universal tariff, which could pressure productivity, growth and add inflationary pressure, she said.

The strategist recommended investors mitigate the impact of tariffs by considering defensive sectors such as consumer staples, healthcare and utilities, as well as select retailers with less exposure to offshore production.

See Also: How To Trade Futures

Upcoming Economic Data:

The Labor Department is scheduled to release its customary weekly jobless claims report at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Economists, on average, expect the number of individuals claiming unemployment benefits to come in at 230,000 for the week ended Oct. 5, up from 225,000 in the previous week.

The September CPI report, due at 8:30 a.m. EDT, is expected to show a 0.1% month-over-month increase in the headline number, a tick down from the 0.2% growth in August. The annual rate of CPI is expected to slow from 2.5% to 2.3%. The monthly and annual core CPI rates for September are expected at 0.2% and 3.2%, respectively, compared to August’s 0.3% and 3.2%.

Among the Fed speakers due to speak are: Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook : 9:15 a.m. EDT Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee (TV interview): 10 a.m. EDT Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin : 10:30 a.m. EDT New York Fed President John Williams : 11 a.m. EDT

The Treasury will auction four- and eight-week bills at 11:30 a.m. EDT and 30-year bonds at 1 p.m. EDT.

Stocks In Focus:

GXO Logistics, Inc. GXO , a spin-off unit of XPO, Inc. XPO , rose about 6% in premarket trading after Bloomberg said the company is rumored to be exploring a potential sale.

, a spin-off unit of , rose about 6% in premarket trading after Bloomberg said the company is rumored to be exploring a potential sale. 10x Genomics, Inc. TXG slumped over 21% following the company’s preannouncement.

slumped over 21% following the company’s preannouncement. Tesla, Inc. TSLA rose over 1% ahead of its Robotaxi event.

rose over 1% ahead of its Robotaxi event. Delta Air Lines, Inc. DAL , Domino’s Pizza, Inc. DPZ and Tilray Brands, Inc. TLRY are among the notable companies due to report their quarterly results ahead of the market open.

Commodities, Bonds And Global Equity Markets:

Crude oil futures climbed sharply ahead of the inflation data and gold futures were modestly higher. Bitcoin BTC/USD pulled back nearly 2% over the past 24 hours and has slipped under $61K. The 10-year Treasury note yield rose 1.5 points to 4.082%.

Most major Asian markets ended higher for the day, as domestic traders drew inspiration from the positive close on Wall Street overnight. The Chinese and Hong Kong markets led the gains in the region after the People’s Bank of China announced new stimulus to support the stock market.

On the other hand, European stocks retreated in early trading

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