US pre-open: Stocks trade higher ahead of CPI, midterm results

Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Thursday as investors remained focussed on tightly contested Senate races in several states and awaited the publication of October's consumer price index later on in the morning.

As of 1200 GMT, Dow Jones futures were up 0.20%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.33% and 0.55% firmer, respectively

The Dow closed 646.89 points lower on Wednesday as market participants continued to await the announcement of a clear winner in the 2022 US midterms.

Traders seemingly hoped that Republicans would be able to take control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate following Tuesday's elections – creating an impasse in Washington, DC. However, races in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada remained tightly contested early on Thursday, while the Senate race between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker will now head to a December runoff.

Outside of the election, Thursday's primary focus will be last months all-important consumer price index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, scheduled for release at 1330 GMT. Economists expect to see headline CPI rise by 0.6% month-on-month - or 7.9% year-on-year.

Markets.com's Neil Wilson said: "US CPI is expected to remain high as the benefit from lower gas prices ebbs, but there is expected to be a marginal cooling in the rate of inflation, with core prices seen rising +0.5% on the month, down slightly from the +0.6% seen in September. Headline CPI is expected to rise by 8% on an annual basis, down from 8.2% in September.

"The risk is that we get another upside surprise which raises bets for a higher terminal rate and arguably nudges the Fed closer to another 75bps hike in December rather than the expected 50bps. There is a strong chance of volatility and outsize moves in index futures and rates, extending to FX on the reading and one point in either direction will move the market."

In other macro news, jobless claims data will also be on deck at 1330 GMT, while the Federal Government's monthly budget statement will follow at 1900 GMT.

On the corporate side of things, dating app Bumble plummeted 15% in pre-market after it posted third-quarter revenues that came in well below Wall Street expectations, while Binance shares were in the red after it backed out of a deal to acquire crypto exchange FTX.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com