U.S. Stocks May Move Back To The Downside In Early Trading

Stocks recovered from Tuesday’s sell-off over the two previous sessions but may move back to the downside in early trading on Friday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a modestly lower open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by 0.2 percent.

Renewed concerns about the outlook for interest rates may weigh on the markets following the release of a Labor Department report showing a bigger than expected increase in U.S. producer prices in the month of January.

The report said the producer price index for final demand rose by 0.3 percent in January after edging down by 0.1 percent in December. Economists had expected producer prices to inch up by 0.1 percent.

Excluding prices for food, energy, and trade services, core producer prices climbed by 0.6 percent in January after rising by 0.2 percent in December.

While the report also showed the annual rate of producer price growth slowed to 0.9 percent in January from 1.0 percent in December, economists had expected the pace of growth to decelerate to 0.6 percent.

Following the hotter-than expected consumer price inflation data released earlier this week, the data may add to concerns the Federal Reserve will postpone cutting interest rates longer than investors had hoped.

Shortly after the start of trading, the University of Michigan is due to release its preliminary reading on consumer sentiment in the month of February. The consumer sentiment index is expected to inch up to 80.0 in February after surging to 79.0 in January.

Stocks showed a lack of direction early in the session on Thursday but moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day. The major averages extended the significant rebound seen during Wednesday’s session, with the S&P 500 reaching a new record closing high.

The major averages finished the day just off their highs of the session. The Dow jumped 348.85 points or 0.9 percent to 38,773.12, the Nasdaq rose 47.03 points or 0.3 percent to 15,906.17 and the S&P 500 climbed 29.11…