Stock market today: Live updates

U.S. stock futures inched higher Wednesday, as traders looked ahead to an important inflation report that will likely determine the near-term direction for interest rates.

S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.3% and 0.7%, respectively. Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 72 points, or 0.1%.

CoreWeave shares jumped 18% in premarket trade after the cloud infrastructure mainstay’s second-quarter adjusted operating income margin of 5% exceeded expectations.

Super Micro Computer also soared prior to Wednesday’s open, adding 9% following a strong quarterly earnings and revenue update. U.S.-listed shares of Dutch neocloud specialist Nebius were also up more than 8%.

The moves come as investors await key inflation data. July’s consumer price index, due at 8:30 a.m. E.T., is expected to show only a slight increase in monthly inflation, of 0.1% in the headline number and 0.2% for the core reading, according to economists polled by Dow Jones.

However, the estimated 12-month rates of 3.4% and 2.5%, respectively, remain above the Fed’s 2% target. The consumer print is followed by July’s producer price index, due Thursday.

A surprisingly hot inflation report will likely alarm investors who expect it will shape what the Federal Reserve does at its September meeting, as policymakers take a reprieve in August. The central bank has been laser focused on the impact higher pricing pressures are having on the U.S. consumer, with three dissenters at the last meeting voting to raise rates.

Those concerns have yet to abate, with U.S. oil prices pushing above $83 a barrel in morning trade, as hopes of a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz dwindle.

Across the Atlantic, European markets were choppy in early trade. The Stoxx 600 continental benchmark was trading just above the flatline. France’s CAC 40 was down 0.21%, and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was almost 0.1% lower. Germany’s DAX added 0.32%, and the Italian FTSE MIB was marginally higher.

In Asia, markets ended mixed Tuesday. The Kospi jumped 3.68%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.83%. Mainland China’s CSI 300 added 0.58%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.98% as of its last hour of trade. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.45%.