U.S. stock futures are slightly higher ahead of the Wall Street open after the benchmark S&P 500 (SPX) settled at another record high on Wednesday.  

While equities were mixed yesterday, traders cheered Oracle’s (ORCL) growth outlook for its cloud business. Shares of the stock rallied nearly 36% in the session, marking its best day since 1992 and adding $244 billion in market cap. 

Investor focus turns to more inflation data today with the August CPI due ahead of the opening bell. The consensus sees CPI up 0.3% on the month for headline and core in August. The call for CPI on year is 2.9% from July’s 2.7% and an in-line 3.1% for core. 

Traders should also focus on analyst calls today with upgrades in Nvidia (NVDA) and Zscaler (ZS) along with downgrades to Apple (AAPL), AMD, FedEx (FDX), and UPS.

Snapshot (as of 7:30 AM ET)

• Oil (/CL) – Oil prices are down 1.2% and below $63 a barrel, falling from gains in the previous session as weak demand in the United States and broad oversupply risks countered concern over attacks in the Middle East and Russia’s war in Ukraine. The IEA predicts record oil surplus next year. The IEA said the oil surplus projected for next year will be even larger amid the ongoing drive by OPEC+ producers to restore output. World output is now expected to exceed consumption by an average of 3.33 million barrels a day next year, around 360K a day more than anticipated a month ago.
• Gold (/GC) – Gold prices are down 0.6% near $3660, hovering just below this week’s record highs, as investors awaited U.S. consumer inflation data due later in the day following weaker-than-expected producer price figures that reinforced expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut next week.
• Bitcoin (/BTC) – The Crypto Future is up 0.6% near 114,600 in premarket trading.
• VIX – The CBOE Volatility Index was up 2% on Wednesday and settled at 15.35 as stocks fell off of session highs to finish mixed.
• U.S. Dollar (/DX) – The dollar is up 0.2% near 97.6.

Biggest Premarket Movers (Mark % Change as of 7:30 AM ET)

1. Centene (CNC): +12.18%
2. Molina Healthcare (MOH): +6.06%
3. Synopsys (SNPS): +5.59%

1. UPS (UPS): -1.86%
2. FedEx (FDX): -1.00%
3. AMD (AMD): -0.84%

Economic Data

• 8:30AM ET: CPI, Jobless Claims
• 10:30AM ET: Natural Gas Inventories
• 1:00PM ET: 30-Year Bond Auction
• 2:00PM ET: Treasury Statement

Notable Earnings

• Premarket: KR, LOVE
• Postmarket: ADBE, RENT
• Premarket Tomorrow: None
• Postmarket Tomorrow: None

Upgrades/Downgrades

• DA Davidson upgrades Nvidia (NVDA) to Buy from Neutral
• Freedom Capital upgrades Zscaler (ZS) to Buy from Hold
• Barclays upgrades Thermo Fisher (TMO) to Overweight from Equal Weight
• Phillip Securities downgrades Apple (AAPL) to Reduce from Neutral
• Erste Group downgrades AMD (AMD) to Hold from Buy
• BofA downgrades UPS (UPS) to Underperform from Neutral

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Data contained herein is obtained from what are considered reliable sources. However, its accuracy, completeness, or reliability cannot be guaranteed. All events and times listed are subject to change without notice.