Wall St set for muted open; key inflation data in focus
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Dell, HP fall after downbeat quarterly forecasts
Workday down after Q4 subscription revenue forecast misses estimates
Q3 GDP unrevised at 2.8%; weekly jobless claims at 213,000
Futures: Dow up 0.14%, S&P 500 down 0.01%, Nasdaq off 0.16%
Updates before market open
By Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal
Nov 27 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were on track for a subdued opening on Wednesday as investors evaluated strong economic data and awaited a key inflation report that is expected to influence the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy stance.
Futures made up for lost ground after the Commerce Department's second estimate confirmed the economy grew at 2.8% in the third quarter, in line with economists' forecasts.
A separate report showed 213,000 jobless claims the previous week, marginally lower than the estimate of 216,000.
Traders are now betting on a 68% probability the central bank will lower borrowing costs by 25 basis points in December, up from expectations of about 63% before the data, according to CME's FedWatch.
Yields on shorter-dated Treasury bonds extended declines, relieving pressure on riskier equities. US/
"The data was not necessarily anything that was far from expectations. I wouldn't look at that as really pushing the needle one way or the other (on the Fed's rate-cut path)," said Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments.
Attention now turns to thePersonal Consumption Expenditure report, the central bank's preferred inflation gauge, due at 10 a.m. ET. Economists polled by Reuters expectprices to increase by 2.3% on an annual basis in October, higher than a 2.1% rise the previous monthand above the Fed's 2% target.
Minutes from the Fed's November meeting, released on Tuesday, showedpolicymakers were uncertain about the outlook for interest-rate cuts and how much the current rateswere restricting the economy.
Concerns include U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tax cuts and tariff policies, including his latest stance on imports from Mexico, Canada and China, which couldpush up prices, spark a trade war and weigh on growth globally.
At 08:44 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were up 65 points, or 0.14%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were down 0.75 points, or 0.01%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were down 33 points, or 0.16%.
Futures tracking small caps RTYcv1 rose nearly 1%. Equities have rallied this year, with Wall Street's main indexes and the small-cap Russell index .RUT trading near record highs.
The benchmark S&P 500 is on track forits biggest one-month rise in a year and its sixth month of gains out of seven, as markets price in the probability of Trump'spolicies benefiting local businesses and the overall economy.
Among top movers, Dell DELL.N slid 11.5% after issuing a weak quarterly revenue forecast and HP HPQ.N dropped 7.4% following adownbeat forecast for first-quarter profit, signaling lackluster demand in the personal computer market.
The sentiment spread to other tech names such as Nvidia NVDA.O, which fell 1.2%, Microsoft MSFT.O, off 0.4%, and Apple AAPL.O, which dropped 0.6%.
Workday WDAY.O lost 11.8% after forecasting fourth-quarter subscription revenue below expectations, hit by weaker client spending on its human capital management software.
Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai
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