FX.co ★ US Futures Inch Lower Ahead of CPI

US equity futures edged lower on Friday, extending the previous session’s decline as renewed pressure on AI-related stocks coincided with positioning ahead of the January inflation release. Futures on the three major indices slipped as much as 0.2%, with Nasdaq 100 contracts underperforming after the benchmark dropped more than 2% on Thursday, reflecting its heavier weighting in technology shares.

Headline US inflation is expected to moderate, but core measures of price growth are projected to remain sufficiently firm to keep the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates at its upcoming meetings. Tech shares were poised to drag the broader equity market for a third straight week amid mounting doubts over the sustainability of AI-driven capital spending, while advances in automation technology spurred selling in software services names.

Oracle, Palantir, and Microsoft traded little changed in premarket activity after steep losses in the prior session, and Micron pared part of its earlier gains. In contrast, Applied Materials and Arista Networks each surged about 10% in premarket trading on the back of strong earnings results.