(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures pared declines on Thursday after softer-than-expected producer prices data soothed investor jitters about sticky inflation, keeping hopes of interest-rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve this year alive.
A Labor Department report showed the Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 0.2% month-on-month in March, compared with a 0.3% increase expected by economists polled by Reuters. Annually, it rose 2.1%, versus an estimated growth of 2.2%.
A separate report showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment claims stood at 211,000 for the week ended April 6, compared with an estimated 215,000 claims.
At 8:32 a.m. ET, were down 63 points, or 0.16%, were down 8.25 points, or 0.16%, and were up 3.5 points, or 0.02%.