Equity futures in New York advanced on Friday morning as investors continued to reflect on July’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) released the previous day. The CPI came in at 3.2%; higher than June’s 3% but lower than Wall Street estimated of 3.3%.
Futures on the benchmark S&P 500 index gained 0.2%, as did those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index. Contracts listed on the Dow Jones Industrial Index edged higher by 51 points or 0.1%.
Upon absorbing the latest CPI data, markets are pricing a 90% probability that the Federal Reserve will institute an interest rate pause in September. Markets previously priced this likelihood at 85%.
According to Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid, last week’s jobs report and Thursday’s CPI data are “supportive of the view that the Fed has hiked for the last time in this cycle.”