By Joseph Adinolfi and Steve Goldstein
U.S. stock index futures were pointing to a third day of gains on Friday, and may break a three-week losing streak, as investors bet that planned interest rate rises from the Federal Reserve may be close to being priced in.
What’s happening
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 193 points, or 0.61%, to 31775, the S&P 500 increased 26 points, or 0.66%, to 4006, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 70 points, or 0.6%, to 11862, as stocks booked their first back-to-back gains in two weeks.
Over the last two sessions, the S&P 500 has risen 2.5% as stocks are on track for their first weekly gain in four.
What’s driving markets
Since the start of the week, markets have absorbed a barrage of hawkish speeches from Federal Reserve officials, as well as a 75-basis point interest rate hike from the the European Central Bank and a similar move by the Bank of Canada.
There also are expectations the U.S. Labor Department will report a month-on-month decline in consumer prices next week, as market-derived measures of inflation expectations also are falling.
“We think this remains a setup where downside reads in inflation means the Fed has less work to do,” said Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat, in a note to clients.
A noon speech from Fed Gov. Christopher Waller, speaking in Austria, is the highlight of a quiet day on the U.S. economics calendar. At the same time, the quarterly flow of funds report from the Fed is due.
In company news, Docusign (DOCU) stock jumped in premarket trading after the electronic agreements company reported an earnings beat and a third-quarter revenue forecast that was above expectations.
Among crypto-related stocks Marathon Digital (MARA) was up 9.4% and Riot Blockchain (RIOT) gained 8.9% after bitcoin rose past $20,000 on Friday.
-Joseph Adinolfi
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
09-09-22 0905ET
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