Wall Street futures ticked higher early Friday. Traders are bracing for the last piece of inflation data before next week’s Federal Reserve meeting.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq-100 each rose about 0.3% before the bell, according to Yahoo Finance data. All three benchmarks were riding a four-day losing streak into Friday and remained on pace for a weekly decline, pressured by rising Treasury yields and a sharp run-up in oil prices.

Oracle Jumps on a Cloud Beat

The morning’s biggest single-stock mover is Oracle (ORCL), which popped more than 5% in premarket trading after posting fiscal first-quarter results that beat Wall Street’s targets. Cloud infrastructure sales jumped 121% year-over-year to $7.4 billion, ahead of the $7.19 billion analysts expected, while total revenue rose 30% to $19.3 billion. Adjusted earnings came in at $1.92 a share against a $1.75 estimate, and the company said it added 850 megawatts of data center capacity during the quarter. As Oracle’s own earnings preview flagged earlier this week, investors were watching the AI-driven backlog tied to OpenAI’s cloud contract as closely as the headline numbers — and Thursday’s report did little to dent that story.

The CPI Report That Could Tip the Fed’s Hand

The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the August Consumer Price Index at 8:30 a.m. ET Friday, and economists polled by Bloomberg expect headline prices to have risen 0.4% for the month, pushing the annual rate to 3.4% — matching July’s pace. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, is projected to ease slightly to 2.4% on an annual basis.

The reading lands days before the Federal Open Market Committee’s September 15-16 meeting, where policymakers will decide whether to move off the target range they have held since voting 9-3 in July “to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 3-1/2 to 3-3/4 percent”. Traders now see roughly 72% odds of a quarter-point hike at that meeting, according to CME FedWatch data — up sharply from a coin-flip just a week ago, and a jump from the 60% odds priced in earlier this week.

The Fed itself looks divided. Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh has signaled inflation remains too high to ignore, while governor Christopher Waller and New York Fed president John Williams have suggested they would favor holding rates steady if price pressures keep easing. Bank of America economist Stephen Juneau argued the August data is unlikely to change that calculus: the report, he wrote, «is unlikely to alter the message of limited inflation progress and should provide sufficient support for the Fed to hike rates at the September meeting.»

Friday’s report also follows a stronger-than-expected August jobs report, which added 162,000 positions and eased fears that a hike would hit an already-softening labor market.

Oil and Bonds Keep the Pressure On

Energy markets are doing as much as the jobs data to shape the Fed debate. Brent crude topped $106 a barrel Friday morning, with both Brent and US benchmark crude on pace for weekly gains near 8%, and retail diesel prices touched a record high near $6 a gallon. The move has fed directly into the bond market: the 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 4.91% on Thursday, its highest level since 2023, while the 30-year reached 5.35% — a continuation of the move flagged in Thursday’s pre-open note, when yields first broke above 4.85%.

What to Watch for the Open

  • The 8:30 a.m. ET CPI print: a hotter-than-expected core number would push rate-hike odds higher still; a soft one could reopen the case for a hold.
  • Oracle’s follow-through: watch whether the premarket pop holds into the open or fades, a signal for how much skepticism remains around AI infrastructure spending.
  • The 10-year yield: a fresh move above 4.91% would tighten financial conditions further and pressure high-multiple tech stocks.
  • Oil above $106: sustained strength keeps the inflation argument alive for hawks on the committee heading into next week’s meeting.

*Market data as of approximately 4:30 a.m. EDT on September 11, 2026. Futures levels change continuously and do not guarantee the direction of the regular session. This article is information, not investment advice.*