(Reuters) -Futures tracking the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq inched up on Friday, fueled by Intel's earnings and as investors braced for a high-stakes inflation report that could potentially jolt the U.S. interest rate path.
Intel shares jumped 8.4% in premarket trade after the chip giant smashed third-quarter profit estimates, injecting fresh momentum into a wave of upbeat U.S. earnings.
Peers rose too, with AMD up 1.5% and Micron Technology gaining 2.5%.
Intel's beat sets the tone for a blockbuster week
ahead, with five of the 'Magnificent Seven' tech titans - including Apple and Microsoft - on deck to report amid the ongoing AI gold rush. That's even as lackluster results from Tesla and Netflix in the week gone by left investors wanting more, tempering some of the optimism.
Dow E-minis were up 10 points or 0.02% as of 05:02 a.m. ET. S&P 500 E-minis were up 14.5 points, or 0.21%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 100.5 points, or 0.4%.
Global markets found a moment of calm on Thursday after the White House confirmed that U.S. President Donald Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping next week during his Asia tour.
The long-anticipated encounter between the two leaders comes amid simmering trade tensions that have kept investors on edge, with tit-for-tat tariffs and export restrictions rattling sentiment in recent weeks. News of the meeting offered a glimmer of hope for de-escalation.
All three indexes closed in the green on Thursday and the CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, hit its lowest in over two weeks.
ALL EYES ON CORE CPI
With the U.S. government shutdown obscuring most economic data, all eyes are on core consumer price figures due at 8:30 a.m. ET - expected to hold steady at 3.1%. This will likely be the only signal on inflation before the Federal Reserve's rate decision next week. Now in its 24th day, the shutdown has jammed the release of key indicators including jobs data, a growing concern for Fed officials.
Investors have already priced in a 25 basis point cut, with another expected in December. But a surprise spike in core CPI - which is still being released despite the government shutdown to enable Social Security's cost-of-living adjustment - could jolt markets that are flying blind.
"In the absence of US economic data, investors are not changing their minds, remaining optimistic about the US for 2026. With a very likely 2 more Fed cuts in 2025, this is a good recipe for a year-end rally," analysts at Citi said.
Among other early movers, Alphabet rose 1.3% after Anthropic said it will use tens of billions of dollars worth of Google's AI chips worth to train its Claude chatbot.
Deckers Outdoor forecast full-year sales below Wall Street estimates, sending its shares down 11.2%.
(Reporting by Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar)
