Wall Street expected to lift the gloom with futures pointing higher ahead of the bell

Market Report US Markets Written by: Ian Lyall 10:00 Fri 11 Sep 2026 --> Updated by: Angela Harmantas Disclaimer No investment advice About this content Editorial Standards & Policies Share article About this content × About Ian Lyall Ian Lyall, a seasoned journalist and editor, brings over three decades of experience to his role as Managing Editor at Proactive. Overseeing Proactive's editorial and broadcast operations across six offices on three continents, Ian is responsible for quality control, editorial policy, and content production. He directs the creation of 50,000 pieces of real-time news, feature articles, and filmed interviews annually. Prior to Proactive, Ian helped lead the business output at the Daily... Read more About the publisher Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast, accessible, informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience. All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists. Proactive news team spans the world’s key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney and Perth. We are experts in medium and small-cap markets, we also keep our community up to date with blue-chip companies, commodities and broader investment stories. This is content that excites and engages motivated private investors. The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma, mining and natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies. Use of technology Proactive has always been a forward looking and enthusiastic technology adopter. Our human content creators are equipped with many decades of valuable expertise and experience. The team also has access to and use technologies to assist and enhance workflows. Proactive will on occasion use automation and software tools, including generative AI. Nevertheless, all content published by Proactive is edited and authored by humans, in line with best practice in regard to content production and search engine optimisation. Wall Street sets positive tone as investors digest hotter inflation data Last updated: 10:00 11 Sep 2026 EDT, First published: 07:51 11 Sep 2026 EDT Positive tone Wall Street opened sharply higher on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both gaining 1.1% and the Nasdaq rising 1.2% as investors digested the latest inflation data and looked ahead to next week's Federal Reserve meeting. The August Consumer Price Index showed inflation remained sticky, reinforcing market expectations that the Fed will raise interest rates by 25 basis points next week. Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, said the hotter-than-expected CPI report could strengthen the case among Fed policymakers for another rate hike. "Today's CPI report came in hotter than expected and the hawks may become the majority. But should the Fed hike?" Roach said. Markets are now widely expecting a 25-basis-point increase next week, although Roach suggested the economic impact could be more limited than in previous tightening cycles. "A growing share of economic activity is less interest-rate sensitive, much as it was during the 2022-23 hiking cycle," Roach said. With AI investment surging and affluent consumers and boomers continuing to spend on travel, demand could remain resilient despite tighter monetary policy. Roach expects nominal economic growth to remain above 6% over the next few quarters, supporting business revenues even as the Fed keeps policy tight. Meanwhile, Oracle Corp shares gained more than 2% at the open after the technology company reported strong cloud computing growth in its latest quarter, helping support the broader tech sector. Core inflation edges higher US inflation rose in line with expectations in August, with the Consumer Price Index increasing 3.4% year-over-year and 0.4% from the previous month. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 2.4% annually, matching forecasts, while the monthly increase of 0.3% came in slightly above expectations for a 0.2% gain. The data showed headline inflation meeting forecasts but underlying monthly price pressures coming in somewhat stronger than expected. Ahead of the bell US stock futures were in a brighter mood in premarket trading on Friday as investors braced for inflation data that could make or break growing bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike next week. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%, with the S&P 500 up by the same margin and Nasdaq 100 contracts adding 0.6%. The gains offered a tentative reprieve after the major indexes extended their losing streak to four days, leaving all three on course for weekly falls. Oracle led the premarket movers, jumping more than 5% after strong cloud computing growth pointed to returns from its AI data centres. Attention now swings to August's Consume