Source: Sharecast
As of 0544 EDT, pre-market futures were showing a 0.2% fall for the Dow, and 0.1% losses on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
On Thursday, the Dow topped the 46,000 mark for the first time in history, surging 1.4%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also hit new highs – their 24th record closes this year – finishing up 0.9% and 0.7% respectively.
All eyes were on inflation this week, as investors digested incoming data releases to predict what the Federal Reserve will do at its policy meeting next week.
Data on Thursday showed that US consumer prices rose at an annual rate of 2.9% in August, up from 2.7% in July but in line with the consensus estimate. Producer price numbers on Wednesday showed that the annual increase in factory gate inflation slowed more than expected to 2.6% from 3.1%.
"With inflation a touch higher then ideal but steady, this releases the Fed to concentrate on the labour market, which showed further signs of deterioration as weekly jobless claims jumped to 265,000 from 236,000, the highest since 2021," said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor.
"As such, the economy is in need of some stimulus before it begins to edge towards recessionary waters. A cut of 0.25% next week remains the most likely outcome, with a vague possibility of a 0.5% reduction which would certainly send an aggressive signal which could even appease the President. In any event, the market is now pricing in a total of 0.75% in reductions before the end of the year."
On Friday's agenda, the only major economic data release is set to be the University of Michigan's consumer confidence index for September, which is expected to show a slight dip in optimism over the past month. The headline sentiment index is tipped to fall to 58. from 58.2 in August, while the expectations index is forecast to slip to 54.9 from 55.9.
In corporate news, Adobe futures were trading firmly higher after third-quarter results from the software group after the close surpassed market forecasts. The stock, which has underperformed the tech sector and wider market this year with a 21% year-to-date drop, was up 4.5% in pre-market deals.