US pre-open: Stocks seen lower ahead of key inflation reading

Stocks on Wall Street looked set for a weaker open on Friday as investors eyed a key US inflation reading.

At 1245 GMT, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.6%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were 0.7% and 0.9% lower, respectively.

On the macro front, personal consumption expenditure figures for January are due at 1330 GMT.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Finalto, said: "Big inflation print due later - the personal consumption expenditures excluding food and energy increased 4.4% in December from a year before, down from the 4.7% reading in November. We’re anticipating another +4.4% yoy and +0.5% month-on-month.

"The core PCE index is the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation and will be watched closely for further signs of disinflation. Market watchers will pay particularly close attention to services inflation, which is regarded as stickier than goods inflation.

"A month ago the data showed goods inflation rose 4.6% in December, down from 6.1% in November, while services inflation was steady at 5.2."

New home sales figures for January are out at 1500 GMT, along with the University of Michigan sentiment survey for February.

On the corporate front, Boeing was likely to be in focus after it temporarily halted delivery of its 787 Dreamliners.