US pre-open: Futures trade higher ahead of PCE data

Wall Street futures pointed to a generally positive open ahead of the opening bell of what will be the final session of Q1.

As of 1245 GMT, Dow Jones and S&P 500 futures had the indices opening 0.25% and 0.23% higher, respectively, while Nasdaq-100 futures were just 0.05% firmer.

The Dow closed 141.43 points higher on Thursday as banking concerns showed further signs of easing.

Friday's primary focus will be the central bank's preferred inflation gauge, the personal expenditures index, scheduled for release at 1330 BST. Economists expect to see core PCE, which strips out volatile energy and food costs, gain 0.4% month-on-month and add 4.7% on an annualised basis.

Traders will also be keeping their eyes peeled for any indication that inflation may be cooling, something that may very well lead the Federal Reserve to wrap up its rate-hiking campaign in the near future.

Markets.com's Neil Wilson said: "A solid quarter but the gains largely front loaded in the first two months of the year as the market picked up on hopes the Fed would pivot – no one foresaw that a banking crisis and credit crunch might the reasons for this. China's reopening was another factor.

"PCE inflation today is the last big data point – a report yesterday showed US jobless claims rose more than expected, suggestive of some cooling in the labour market. This in turn suggests that the Fed might be less inclined to keep on hiking – the dynamic between inflation and the labour market continues to be the prime consideration for the Fed and I think the market is going to have to reassert a higher for longer expectation once again – this will lead to yet more volatility in rates and repricing in the front end."

Elsewhere on the macro front, personal income and spending data will also be released at 1330 BST, while March's Chicago PMI and the University of Michigan's monthly consumer sentiment index will follow at 1445 BST and 1500 BST, respectively.

Federal Reserve bankers Christopher Waller, John Williams, and Lisa Cook will all deliver speeches on Friday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com