Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on March 11, 2025 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Stock futures rebounded from a three-week rout on Wednesday after a soft inflation report eased concerns about the economy and as investors snapped up beaten-up technology shares.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 200 points, or 0.5% following a loss of 1,300 points the last two days. S&P 500 futures were 1% higher, a day after the benchmark closed inches away from a 10% correction. Nasdaq 100 futures gained around 1.4% as Nvidia and Tesla gained in the premarket.
The consumer price index, a broad measure of costs across the U.S. economy, increased 0.2% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.8%. This was lower than the respective Dow Jones estimates for 0.3% and 2.9%. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2% on the month and 3.1% for the past 12 months, both lower than expected.
Part of the reason for the recent sell-off has been concern that President Donald Trump’s volatile trade policy would raise inflation and slow growth, otherwise known as stagflation. The CPI report eased those concerns. The report also would leave room for the Federal Reserve to cut rates again later this year if the economy needed it.
“We’re just waiting on some kind of policy response, either from the Fed or the administration,” 3Fourteen Research co-founder Warren Pies told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Tuesday. “I think that’s going to be a little bit slow coming. And so I don’t think it’s time to buy the dip just yet.”
This week alone, the Dow and S&P 500 have dropped more than 3%, while the Nasdaq has fallen 4%. The S&P 500 briefly dipped into correction territory on Tuesday, down 10% from a record set in February. Over the past month, the S&P 500 has lost nearly 8%, while the Dow and Nasdaq have shed 6.6% and 11.3%, respectively.
The bulk of those declines have been led by major tech names, which have been struggling of late. Tesla is down 17% this week alone, while Nvidia and Meta Platforms are down more than 7% each. Some of those names rebounded slightly Wednesday in the premarket. Tesla rose 3%, while Nvidia gained 2%. Meta Platforms, Amazon and Alphabet also climbed more than 1%.
Trade policy remained an overhang for the market. Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs took effect on Wednesday and the European Union responded swiftly, pledging to impose counter-tariffs on 26 billion euros ($28.33 billion) worth of U.S. imports beginning in April.
