US stock futures slipped on Wednesday as traders waited for the May us cpi report and sold tech shares again, with the Nasdaq 100 down 1.7%, the S&P 500 off 1.2% and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lower by around 1%.
The inflation reading was due at 8:30 a.m. ET, and it arrived after Tuesday data showed consumer prices rose 4.2% in May from a year earlier, matching forecasts and climbing from April's 3.8% pace. Core inflation rose 0.2% month over month and 2.9% from a year earlier, with the annual figure in line with expectations but the monthly reading coming in below the 0.3% economists had looked for.
That mix left investors with no clean verdict. The yearly pace was still hot enough to keep pressure on the Federal Reserve, but the softer core monthly reading offered a small counterweight. For markets that had already been rattled by a slide in artificial intelligence names, it was enough to keep the selling going before the release and before Oracle was set to report after the bell.
Oil added another layer of strain. Brent crude rose nearly 2% to $93 a barrel on Wednesday morning, while West Texas Intermediate hovered just below $90, as renewed US-Iran clashes unsettled traders overnight. Donald Trump also weighed in on Truth Social, saying Iran had taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them and that they would have to pay the price.
The clash between sticky inflation and rising energy prices is what matters now. If oil keeps climbing, the Fed gets less room to ease even if some parts of inflation cool, and that leaves growth stocks exposed for longer. The next marker is Friday's expected SpaceX IPO, but before that, the market has to digest the CPI print and whatever comes after the bell from Oracle.
