U.S. stock index futures were little changed late Thursday as traders awaited fresh inflation and growth data that could reshape expectations for the path of interest rates. The cautious tone followed a broadly negative session on Wall Street, where gains in technology shares faded and the Federal Reserve's January meeting minutes took on a hawkish tone.
By 19:04 ET (00:04 GMT), S&P 500 Futures had inched up to 6,880.75 points. Nasdaq 100 Futures were higher by 0.1% at 24,881.25 points, while Dow Jones Futures were essentially flat at 49,468.0 points.
Markets entered the evening focused on two major economic releases scheduled for Friday: the PCE price index for December, and preliminary gross domestic product figures for the fourth quarter. The PCE measure is the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge of inflation, with the core reading closely watched because it strips out volatile food and energy prices. Economists expect the core PCE to have remained above the Fed's 2% annual target in December, a result that could influence the central bank's near-term interest rate strategy.
The advance GDP report for Q4 is projected to show that the U.S. economy finished 2025 on a relatively strong footing, although growth is expected to have decelerated markedly from the prior quarter. Despite persistent headwinds including softer consumer spending, a lagging housing sector, and ongoing inflationary pressures, GDP growth has stayed positive in recent quarters.
One important driver cited for the continued expansion has been outsized spending on artificial intelligence. That trend has helped underpin growth recently and is expected to persist into 2026, with major cloud and AI infrastructure providers having pledged hundreds of billions of dollars in investment into the emergent technology.
The prior Wall Street session closed lower after the release of the Fed's January meeting minutes, which showed several policymakers discussing the possibility of additional interest rate increases to combat stubborn inflation. While the prevailing market view remains that the Fed will hold rates steady in the near term, the minutes injected greater uncertainty about the longer-term trajectory for rates - a concern amplified by an anticipated leadership transition at the central bank.
Among specific market moves, private equity stocks declined sharply after Blue Owl Capital Inc said it would sell $1.4 billion in assets and freeze redemptions at one of its funds as part of efforts to reduce debt and return capital to shareholders. The announcement prompted broader concerns about credit quality and the sector's exposure to recent equity market losses.
Retail heavyweight Walmart Inc fell 1.4% following quarterly results that missed expectations and a management statement highlighting "substantial uncertainty" around its outlook. A wider softening in technology-related stocks also weighed on the market after a pronounced pullback in software names amid worries about disruption from AI.
Headline indexes ended the session lower: the S&P 500 slipped 0.3% to 6,861.90 points, the NASDAQ Composite dropped 0.3% to 22,682.73 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to 49,395.16 points.
With the PCE and preliminary GDP prints due imminently, investors are positioned for data that could either reinforce the Fed minutes' hawkish read or give markets reason to expect a steadier policy path. Until those reads arrive, futures trading is likely to remain contained and sensitive to any fresh signals about inflation, growth, or central bank posture.