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

Wall Street futures were broadly flat ahead of the bell on Tuesday as investors awaited a closely watched inflation report scheduled for later in the day.

As of 1225 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.07% and S&P 500 futures were 0.09% higher, while Nasdaq-100 futures had the index opening 0.02% stronger.

The Dow closed 261.91 points higher on Monday, snapping a five-day losing streak for the blue-chip index.

Tuesday's primary focus will be the August consumer price index reading at 1330 BST, with economists expecting consumer prices to have risen 0.4% month-on-month last month for a 5.4% year-on-year increase and comes after producer prices were revealed to have jumped 8.3% year-on-year during August - the largest annual increase on record.

AvaTrade's Naeem Aslam said: "Futures in the United States and Europe are up today after the Dow managed to gain nearly 260 points and break its five-day losing streak. Although investors are cautious ahead of the release of consumer price data, the market appeared oversold, prompting the indices to reverse their losses.

"Stock traders should remember that the consumer price data is scheduled to be released today. Inflation is an important reading for investors as it is a significant factor in the Fed’s monetary policy. Higher inflation may force the Federal Reserve to act more aggressively related to its bond purchase tapering timeline. Inflation is expected to have jumped 5.4% year over year and is expected to be 0.4% month over month. Today’s inflation reading is likely to set the tone in stock markets ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting to be held next week."

Elsewhere on the macro front, the National Federation of Independent Business' small business optimism index improved to 100.1 in August, up from 99.7 in July and ahead of expectations for a reading of 99.0.

Also in focus, Apple stock was trading higher ahead of the tech behemoth's virtual event at 1800 BST, with the company expected to unveil the new versions of the iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch.

In the capital, House Democrats proposed new tax hikes to cover Joe Biden's $3.5trn spending package, with a summary from the Ways and Means Committee showing that the plan called for top corporate and individual tax rates of 26.5% and 39.6%, respectively.

A rise in tax rates would mean less disposable earnings for companies over the coming months, adversely impacting their stock market performances as a result.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Tuesday.