US pre-open: Stocks trade higher as CPI remains in focus

Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Friday as investors continued to digest yesterday's cooler-than-expected CPI reading.

As of 1230 GMT, Dow Jones futures were up 0.38%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.39% and 0.46% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 1,201.43 points higher on Thursday, easily reversing losses recorded in the previous session and putting major indices on track for a winning week.

Markets reacted positively to a revelation from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that consumer prices had risen softer than expected in October, giving market participants some hope that inflation may be slowing down. Treasury yields dropped on the news, while tech stocks surged.

AvaTrade's Naeem Aslam said: "Traders are optimistic as it is the US CPI data has changed the sentiment among traders and investors. Yesterday, we saw a stellar rally for the US stock indices as traders finally saw more positive news on the inflation front. The US CPI reading confirmed that inflation is losing its momentum, and a U-turn has happened. The inflation data printed the reading lower than the market expectations, and now traders believe that the Fed will be less aggressive with its monetary policy approach."

On the macro front, a preliminary reading of the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index will be published at 1500 GMT.

In the corporate space, Real Good Food was scheduled to deliver its latest set of quarterly numbers before the open.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com