Stocks Rise Ahead of Inflation Report

Stock futures rose slightly on Friday as investors looked to the end of a losing week and month and awaited key inflation data.Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials popped 197 points, or 0.5%, to 43,494Futures for the S&P 500 index gathered 10.75 points, or 0.2%, to 5,887.Futures for the tech-heavy NASDAQ dropped 10.75 points, or 0.1%, to 21,366.30. The S&P 500 has slid 2.5% week to date, while the Dow has seen more modest losses with a retreat of just 0.4%. Both are down nearly 3% on the month.Traders have been rattled by President Donald Trump’s promise of tariffs and recent economic reports flashing warning signs. A decline of 8.5% in megacap tech titan Nvidia in Thursday’s session the back of earnings threw more cold water on investor sentiment.The personal consumption expenditures price index — the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation metric — is due for release at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect the measure of price changes for consumers to rise 0.3% from December for an annualized gain of 2.5%. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core PCE is expected to increase by 0.3% month over month and 2.6% year over year.In Japan, the Nikkei 225 tumbled 2.9%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng collapsed 3.3%. Oil prices fell 89 cents to $69.46 U.S. a barrel. Gold prices dwindled $22.30 to $2,873.600 U.S. an ounce.