Investing.com – U.S. stock futures rose modestly in after-hours trading on Thursday, extending gains following a positive session on Wall Street as fresh signs of a cooling labor market sent Treasury yields lower.
Investors largely maintained bets that the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates by September, although key inflation data next week is widely expected to weigh on that forecast.
by 19:45 ET (23:45 GMT) rose 0.1% to 5,244.50 points and 0.1% to 18,235.75 points. increased by 0.1% to 39,592.0 points.
Wall Street rises, yields fall amid new signs of cooling labor market
Wall Street indexes rose on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising for a seventh straight day, as a larger-than-expected weekly gain fueled expectations of a cooling labor market.
The data, coming nearly a week after much softer-than-expected data, sent Treasury yields tumbling, falling 0.8% on Thursday.
Wall Street took advantage of the fall in yields, rising 0.5% to finish Thursday at 5,214.08. The index rose 0.3% to 15,346.27 points and jumped 0.9% to 39,387.76 points.
Expectations for rate cuts have been a key factor on Wall Street in recent sessions, especially amid growing signs that the US economy may be cooling. However, persistent inflation remained a concern.
Consumer Price Index data will be available next week
This trend has focused attention squarely on April inflation figures due to be released next week. The reading is expected to decline following overheated data over the past three months, but will likely still remain above the Fed’s 2% target.
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A number of Fed officials warned this week that persistent inflation will keep interest rates high longer, although they also rejected the possibility of further rate hikes.
Traders are forecasting a nearly 50% chance that the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points in September.
Akami and Unity fail due to weak revenues
Among the largest players in the aftermarket market is a cloud services company. Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:) fell 10.6% after issuing disappointing guidance for the current quarter and 2024.
Video game software developer Unity Software Inc. (NYSE:) fell nearly 5% after quarterly earnings per share missed estimates.