US stock index futures rise marginally ahead of inflation data

U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Monday, ahead of inflation data that will help gauge the likelihood of higher borrowing costs, one of the factors behind the selloff in recent weeks that sent the S&P to its lowest since May on Friday.

A brutal sell-off this month saw Wall Street rocked by jitters over geopolitical events as well as fears over tariffs, rising wages and borrowing costs. The Dow and the S&P 500 returned to negative territory for the year on Friday.

U.S. consumer spending in September is expected to have risen 0.4 per cent last month, from a 0.3 per cent increase in August, data at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT) is expected to show.

The so-called core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, is expected to have edged up 0.1 per cent.

Relief over Italy dodging a ratings downgrade also helped U.S. stock futures reverse a decline after data showed China's industrial profit growth slowed for a fifth straight month in September, pointing to cooling domestic demand in the world's second-biggest economy.

The slowdown in China, a major source of income for several American companies, has been a major concern this earnings season, with a slew of corporates from industrials to chipmakers giving discouraging forecasts.

While healthy third-quarter results have pushed up third-quarter profit estimates at S&P companies to 25.2 per cent from 21.8 per cent in the past 10 days, the dour forecast has pulled down the current quarter's growth outlook to 19.5 per cent from 19.9 per cent, according to Refinitiv data.

At 7:21 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis was up 147 points, or 0.59 per cent. S&P 500 e-minis were up 25.5 points, or 0.96 per cent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 90.25 points, or 1.31 per cent.

Shares of IBM Corp fell 3.9 per cent, the most among S&P 500 components before the opening bell after the company agreed to buy software company Red Hat Inc for $34 billion. Red Hat shares soared 51.3 per cent.

Ford Motor Co rose 3.1 per cent while General Motors Co gained 4.0 per cent after Bloomberg reported China was planning to cut the tax levied on car purchases by half.