US stocks climbed ahead of the bell Thursday, on track for their best month this year as investors continued to bet on interest-rate cuts after a key reading on consumer inflation.
Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) futures paced gains with a jump of about 0.6%, or over 200 points, while S&P 500 (^GSPC) futures moved up around 0.3%. Futures on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) added almost 0.3%.
The stock gauges head into the last day of November trading with fresh 2023 closing highs within reach. That comes after a monster rally powered by optimism that the Federal Reserve is done with hiking interest rates.
Stocks were buoyed by a Thursday’s release of the PCE index, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, which came in line with expectations. The print could add more fuel to the notion that the Fed is done with hiking this cycle and may cut rates sooner than thought.
Read more: What the Fed rate-hike pause means for bank accounts, CDs, loans, and credit cards
Thursday also brought a surprise November drop in euro zone inflation to 2.4%, seen as challenging the European Central Bank’s stance that price growth is stubborn.
Eyes are also on the OPEC+ meeting on Thursday, held online after being delayed as smaller African producers resisted Saudi Arabia and Russia’s push for more supply cuts. Oil prices rose for a third day amid expectations the sides could reach a deal on policy, with WTI (CL=F) and Brent (BZ=F) crude futures both up about 0.7%.
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JFed’s preferred inflation gauge hits lowest levels in more than 2 years
Inflation continued to cool in October.
The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index grew 3% year over year for the month, down from 3.4% in September and with expectations. That marks the slowest pace of inflation growth since March 2021.
“Core” PCE, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories, grew 3.5%, down from 3.7% from the month prior and in line with what economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected.
Month-over-month, core PCE rose 0.2% in October, down from 0.3% in September.
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