U.S. stock futures are higher in premarket trading as investors awaited inflation data that could be a catalyst for the market. Investors are awaiting the release of November’s consumer price index reading this morning, the first CPI issued to the public since the U.S. government shutdown ended last month. Economists expect that headline number grew at a 3.1% pace on a year-over-year basis, which reflects sticky inflation above the Fed’s 2% mandate.

Stocks fell sharply yesterday, pressured by sharp losses in leading semiconductor names tied to the artificial intelligence trade. The S&P 500 and Dow Index closed on a 4-day losing streak. Along with economic data, traders will focus on earnings after Micron’s (MU +13%) beat expectations and gave blowout guidance last night. Results are due from FedEx (FDX), KB Home (KBH) and Nike (NKE) after the closing bell today.

• Oil (/CL) – Oil prices are up 0.2% near $55.90 a barrel as traders push past the news that President Donald Trump announced a blockade on tankers entering and leaving Venezuela and most exports from the country remained on hold.

• Gold (/GC) – Gold prices are down 0.4% near $4355 and just below all-time highs, supported by dovish Federal Reserve signals but restrained by a resilient dollar ahead of key U.S. inflation data this week, while silver hovered near record highs.

• Bitcoin (/BTC) – The Crypto Future is up almost 2% near 87,500 in premarket trading.

• VIX – The CBOE Volatility Index was up 7% on Wednesday and settled at 17.62 as stocks fell sharply.

• U.S. Dollar (/DX) – The dollar is up 0.2% to 98.2.

• BofA upgrades Micron (MU) to Buy from Neutral

• Jefferies upgrades GE Vernova (GEV) to Buy from Hold

• BMO Capital upgrades Merck (MRK) to Outperform from Market Perform

• RBC Capital downgrades Lennar (LEN) to Underperform from Sector Perform

• Morgan Stanley downgrades PayPal (PYPL) to Underweight from Equal Weight

• William Blair downgrades Allstate (ALL) to Market Perform from Outperform

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