Traders works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at the opening bell in New York on April 30, 2026.
Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty Images
S&P 500 futures were lower early Thursday, with traders looking ahead to more earnings reports and economic data after a losing session driven by hotter-than-expected inflation data.
S&P 500 futures shed 0.31%, while Nasdaq-100 futures dropped 0.83%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 0.12%, or 63 points.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 1.9% during regular trading, marking its worst day since July 23 — when it dropped 2.2%. The S&P 500 dropped 1.1%, its biggest one one-day slide since July 29. The Dow was the relative outperformer, falling just 0.1%.
In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi fell over 7.84%, dragged by technology heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 4.4%, while the Hang Seng Index declined 1%. Mainland China’s CSI 300 lost 1.41%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.85%.
There are growing concerns that the Federal Reserve could tighten monetary policy more aggressively before year-end, after new data showed consumer prices in September rose faster than expected on a year-over-year basis.
“Inflation is cooking with gas,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner for Harris Financial Group. “It is abundantly clear where the inflation impulse originates, but two wars need to end before we get any relief. The Federal Reserve made the mistake of calling Covid era inflation transitory, and now it appears they are set to make the same mistake in reverse on the energy supply shock.”
Investors will get more inflation data on Thursday, with the September reading on producer prices due out at 8:30 a.m. ET. New retail sales figures and weekly jobless claims are also slated for release at that time.
The corporate earnings season continues as well, with regional banks U.S. Bancorp and PNC due to report. Charles Schwab is also scheduled to post earnings.