S+P 500 futures near session lows as US PCE report awaits at 1.30pm GMT

At 1.30pm GMT we will get the last important US data release before Christmas. That is the November personal and consumption expenditure data (PCE). The markets will be paying very close attention to this data, not least because of the shift from the Fed on Wednesday evening and we know the Fed also pay very close attention to the PCE deflator. That is expected to show core annualised prices rising by 2.9% in November compared to a 2.8% rise in October. The non-core is forecast at 2.5%, from 2.3%. The monthly reading is forecast to remain static at 0.2%. So, ahead of this the US stock futures are now falling back again and as just noted in the previous update, it is the Nasdaq 100 that is leading the way lower. However, the S+P 500 futures are not that far behind and just now edging to session lows, approaching an indicative opening very close to 5,800