By Tharuniyaa Lakshmi
Sept 11 (Reuters) - The main U.S. stock indexes were set to open higher on Friday, putting them on track to end a rough week on a positive note even as data showed consumer prices accelerated in August.
The Consumer Price Index increased 0.4% last month after edging up 0.1% in July, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday. In the 12 months through August, consumer inflation advanced 3.4% after rising by the same margin in July.
"Those numbers are still
stubborn. This to me is an in-line print which will probably not satisfy anybody, whether you're bullish or bearish," said Joe Saluzzi, co-founder and co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading.
Fluctuating interest rate expectations have left the market backdrop fragile as stocks navigate a confluence of headwinds, including the intensifying Middle East conflict and elevated Treasury yields.
The CPI report followed Thursday's slightly hotter-than-expected Producer Price Index reading that did little to reassure investors.
"We believe that the Federal Reserve needs to respond to these in the near term or risk a repeat of the high inflation of the 1970s, which would represent yet another failure of discretionary monetary policy," according to Said Haidar, founder of Haidar Capital Management.
At 8:50 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 447 points, or 0.86%; S&P 500 E-minis were up 59.5 points, or 0.78%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 265.25 points, or 0.91%.
Up to Thursday's close, the benchmark S&P 500 was on track for its biggest weekly loss since June, while the blue-chip Dow was headed for its steepest decline since March.
"Some investors are questioning how much further this year's rally can run. Encouragingly, history suggests that strong starts tend to persist," wrote Jeff Schulze, head investment strategist at Franklin Templeton Institute.
Since 1950, in years when the S&P 500 gained more than 10% through the end of August, the index went on to rise further from September through December in 25 of 28 instances, according to Schulze.
Brent crude futures slipped more than 3% but were still above $104 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures slipped but were close to the $100-a-barrel mark.
"The surge in energy prices since the turn of the month creates new upside risk for inflation," said Bill Adams, chief U.S. economist at Fifth Third Commercial Bank.
The U.S. national average price of diesel on Thursday surpassed $6 a gallon for the first time ever, according to price tracker GasBuddy.
Meanwhile, Oracle jumped nearly 7% premarket after topping estimates for quarterly results late Thursday, which reassured shareholders that its AI investments were generating returns.
Adobe slipped more than 3% premarket after the midpoint of its fourth-quarter revenue forecast fell short of expectations.
Shares of ACV Auctions surged about 45% after online vehicle auctioneer Copart agreed to buy it in a nearly $1.9 billion deal.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant, Tharuniyaa Lakshmi and Utkarsh Hathi in Bengaluru; Editing by Joyjeet Das)
