Stock futures pushed modestly higher early Thursday as traders positioned ahead of fresh inflation data and digested a batch of overnight earnings that landed poorly with investors.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 99 points, or 0.18 percent. S&P 500 futures rose 0.14 percent. Nasdaq-100 futures hovered just above unchanged, weighed down by weakness in technology names.

Tech Earnings Sour the Mood

Three companies reporting overnight all traded sharply lower before the opening bell.

Cerebras fell hardest, dropping 17.4 percent. Cisco Systems declined 5.9 percent. Coherent slipped 5.1 percent.

That cluster of losses explains why the Nasdaq-100 lagged its peers. When semiconductor and networking names disappoint simultaneously, the drag concentrates in the tech-heavy index rather than spreading evenly.

The Data on Deck

The July producer price index was scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. The measure tracks what wholesalers pay for raw goods and materials, making it an early indicator of pipeline price pressure.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected a 0.2 percent monthly increase.

PPI often matters more than its profile suggests. Costs at the wholesale level tend to filter through to consumers with a lag, so the reading offers a preview of where consumer inflation may head in subsequent months.

Wednesday’s CPI Set the Tone

The producer figures follow a consumer price index reading that arrived exactly in line with forecasts.

July CPI rose 0.1 percent month over month, matching expectations. The subdued number lifted the S&P 500 to its first higher close in three sessions.

More consequentially, it prompted traders to scale back expectations for a rate hike in September.

José Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers, cautioned against reading too much into that shift. He said the odds still favour an increase in either October or December, once policymakers have had time to assess conditions on both sides of the central bank’s mandate.

That framing captures the current dynamic. The question is not whether tightening happens, but when.

Bonds React

Treasury yields drifted lower as traders absorbed the inflation picture.

The 10-year yield, which anchors pricing for mortgages, auto loans, and credit card debt, eased one basis point to 4.6704 percent.

The 2-year yield, more sensitive to Federal Reserve policy expectations, fell more than two basis points to 4.1738 percent.

The 30-year bond held steady at 5.2371 percent.

The larger move at the short end reflects exactly what the CPI report changed: near-term rate expectations rather than long-run inflation views.

Friday Brings Retail Sales

Investors get another data point Friday with July retail sales.

Economists expect growth of just 0.1 percent, a modest figure that would suggest consumer spending is cooling alongside inflation.

That combination, softer prices and softer demand, tends to complicate the policy debate rather than simplify it.

Europe Opens Higher

The pan-European Stoxx 600 traded 0.18 percent higher in morning dealing.

Italy’s FTSE MIB led with a 0.69 percent gain. Germany’s DAX added 0.44 percent and France’s CAC 40 rose 0.23 percent. The UK’s FTSE 100 was the exception, slipping 0.27 percent.

Banking shares advanced 0.8 percent, with travel and leisure, household goods, and retail sectors each gaining more than 0.4 percent.

Maersk Delivers a Surprise

Danish shipping group Maersk jumped 7 percent after raising its 2026 earnings guidance for the second time this year.

The company reported preliminary underlying EBITDA of 3 billion dollars for the April to June period, comfortably ahead of the 2.04 billion consensus compiled by LSEG.

The driver is counterintuitive but straightforward. Global trade flows remain disrupted by the Strait of Hormuz blockade, and disruption raises freight rates. Carriers with capacity benefit from exactly the conditions that hurt importers.

Maersk is widely treated as a barometer of global trade, which makes its results worth watching beyond the share price reaction. Shipping executives have warned that port congestion and trucking bottlenecks could delay deliveries and add to consumer prices.

Asia Ends Mixed

South Korea stood out. The Kospi surged 3.6 percent to close at 6,813.34, entering bull market territory. The small-cap Kosdaq added 0.29 percent to 861.37.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 1.16 percent to 68,308.59, with the Topix up 0.89 percent at 4,176.04.

Elsewhere the picture was softer. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.23 percent to 9,188.5, mainland China’s CSI 300 fell 0.57 percent to 4,663.95, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.38 percent late in its session.

A Record IPO in Prospect

The Financial Times reported Wednesday that investors in Anthropic expect the company’s valuation to top 2 trillion dollars when it lists publicly.

Citing roughly six investors, the report said surging revenues would allow the AI company to more than double its current valuation by autumn. A listing could come as soon as October, though no date has been formally set.

At that level the offering would rank as the largest IPO ever, exceeding SpaceX, which listed in June at a valuation of 1.77 trillion pounds. SpaceX shares have traded volatilely since, falling substantially after an initial rally before closing above the IPO price for the first time in weeks on Monday.

That trading history is worth noting alongside the headline number. Record valuations at listing do not guarantee stability afterward.

What Matters Today

The PPI print is the immediate catalyst. A reading at or below the 0.2 percent forecast would reinforce Wednesday’s disinflation message and likely support equities.

An upside surprise would revive September hike speculation and pressure the short end of the curve.

Beyond that, whether the tech selloff stays contained to the three reporting names or spreads across the sector will determine how the Nasdaq closes.