US pre-open: Futures broadly flat ahead of CPI reading

Wall Street futures were little changed prior to the open as investors awaited the publication of last month's all-important consumer price index.

As of 1210 GMT, Dow Jones futures were up 0.06%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.01% and 0.10% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 268.91 points higher on Wednesday, extending gains recorded in the previous session.

Thursday's primary focus will be December's CPI print, scheduled for release at 1330 GMT, with economists expecting to see the core inflation rate slip 0.1% last month and sit at 6.5% year-on-year. Investors will use the report to assess the outlook for the Federal Reserve's rate-hiking campaign, with declining inflation likely to lead the central bank to halt its rate-rising campaign in the spring.

AvaTrade's Naeem Aslam said: "Caution is the name of the game for smart money today. As it is today that we are going to get the most important economic number that is either going to make or break the current rally for the US stock market.

"This economic number will be closely looked at not only by traders in the US but also around the world. This is because the number is going to shape the Fed's monetary policy, and how international markets will react to its monetary policy as the US is the biggest economy in the world."

Elsewhere on the macro front, weekly jobless claims data from the Labor Department will also be out at 1330 GMT, while the Federal Government's monthly budget statement will follow at 1900 GMT.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Thursday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com