Stock Futures Drift Lower Ahead of Inflation Data

Stock futures were drifting lower in trading late Sunday. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

Stock futures were drifting lower on Sunday as investors braced for a fresh batch of inflation data this week.

Shortly after 6 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures were down 52 points, or 0.1%, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq Composite futures were also down 0.1% each.

On Tuesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its preliminary revision to employment data for the 12 months ending March 2025. Economists at Wells Fargo said that a net loss of 475,000 to 790,000 jobs is a reasonable estimate. That would put monthly jobs growth for those 12 months between 83,000 to 110,000, compared with the 149,000 currently reported.

The data is a key metric as the Federal Reserve prepares for its Sept. 16-17 monetary policy meeting.

But investors are also waiting for the release of the producer price index for August, which comes Wednesday, and the consumer price index on Thursday for signs that the Trump administration’s tariff and trade policies are contributing to inflation.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday said that if the Supreme Court strikes down President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imports from around the world, imposed under emergency powers, and forces the Treasury to refund about half of what it has collected, that “would be terrible.”

Bessent also refused to acknowledge on NBC’s Meet the Press that the administration’s tariffs are a tax on Americans. NBC News’ Kristen Welker asked him about Goldman Sachs research that found that 86% of the tariff revenue collected so far has been paid by American businesses and consumers, saying: “So just bottom line, Mr. Secretary, do you acknowledge that these tariffs are a tax on American consumers?”

“No, I don’t,” Bessent said.

Last week, after a government jobs report Friday said that the labor market added only 29,000 jobs a month from June through August, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 144 points, or 0.3%, to 45,401, in the largest two-week point and percentage decline since the week ended Aug. 8, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
The Dow is up 6.7% so far this year.

The S&P 500 closed up 0.3% last week, at 6482, in the largest one-week point and percentage gain since the week ended Aug. 15. The S&P 500 is up 10.2% year to date.

The Nasdaq Composite Index closed up 1.1% last week, at 21,700, snapping a two-week losing streak to post its largest one-week point and percentage gain since the week ended Aug. 8, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The Nasdaq is up 12.4% this year.

Write to Janet H. Cho at janet.cho@dowjones.com