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March CPI data awaited on Wednesday
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CarMax jumps on quarterly profit beat
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Crypto stocks climb as bitcoin hits 10-month high
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Futures mixed: Dow up 0.07%, S&P gains 0.10%, Nasdaq off 0.02%
(Adds analyst's comment, updates prices)
By Sruthi Shankar and Ankika Biswas
April 11 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were on
track for a subdued open on Tuesday as investors kept an eye out
for inflation data that could determine the U.S. Federal
Reserve's next policy moves.
Hopes that the Fed will soon end its aggressive monetary
policy tightening have helped the benchmark S&P 500 stabilize so far in April after the collapse of two U.S.
mid-sized lenders sparked a selloff last month.
A strong labor market report on Friday, however, lifted bets
that the U.S. central bank will increase rates by 25 basis
points in May, with money market traders pricing in a nearly 70%
chance of such a move, according to CME Group's Fedwatch tool.
This marks a shift in traders' bets of a pause in the Fed's
policy tightening after recent weak economic data raised the
possibility of a U.S. recession.
"There are certainly other macro indicators that show the
labor market is slowing, and if we get good news on inflation,
then there's a good possibility that the Fed pauses in May,"
said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital
Securities in New York.
"We are headed for a recession and I think it'll be a light
one."
Data on Wednesday is expected to show consumer prices grew
5.2% in March after a 6.0% rise in February. However, core
prices are seen rising 5.6%, at a slightly faster pace compared
with a 5.5% rise in February.
Investors will also be scrutinizing earnings reports from
the big U.S. banks such as Citigroup Inc , JPMorgan Chase &
Co and Wells Fargo & Co on Friday for clues on
the overall health of the banking sector.
Analysts expect first-quarter profits at S&P 500 companies
to fall 5.2% year-on-year, a stark reversal from the 1.4% annual
growth expected at the beginning of the year, according to
Refinitiv data.
At 8:45 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 24 points, or
0.07%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 4.25 points, or 0.10%,
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 2.25 points, or 0.02%.
Remarks later on Tuesday from voting members of the Fed's
rate-setting committee will be parsed for more clues on the
central bank's policy moves.
Shares of crypto-related companies such as Coinbase Global
Inc , Riot Platforms Inc and Marathon Digital
Holdings Inc climbed between 2.8% and 4.3% in premarket
trade as bitcoin breached the key $30,000 level for
the first time in 10 months.
U.S.-listed shares of Hexo Corp plunged 22.6% after
Tilray Brands Inc said it would buy the Canadian
cannabis company for $56 million. Tilray's shares also fell
6.6%.
CarMax Inc rose 6.1% as the used-car retailer
reported a quarterly profit that beat estimates.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru;
Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
