Stocks Climb Before the Open on Micron Boost Ahead of U.S. Inflation Data

Economic Outlook - Fed Governor Christopher Waller supports additional interest rate cuts to return to neutral settings, indicating that current monetary policy is 100 basis points above neutral [1] - Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic expresses that inflation is a greater concern than the labor market at this time [1] Stock Market Performance - Wall Street's three main equity benchmarks ended in the red, with AI-infrastructure stocks like GE Vernova and Constellation Energy experiencing significant declines of over -10% and -6% respectively [2] - Micron Technology reported strong quarterly results, boosting sentiment and leading to a +0.46% increase in S&P 500 E-Mini futures and a +0.74% rise in Nasdaq 100 E-Mini futures [3] Inflation and Economic Data - The U.S. consumer inflation report for November is anticipated to show a year-over-year CPI increase of +3.1%, up from +3.0% in September, with core CPI expected to remain unchanged at +3.0% [4] - A survey indicates that 36% of investors expect a "risk-on" market reaction to the CPI report, while 46% anticipate a "mixed/negligible" response [5] Corporate Earnings - High-profile companies such as Accenture, Nike, Cintas, and FedEx are set to report quarterly figures, which may influence market sentiment [6] - Micron Technology's stock surged over +10% in pre-market trading following a strong FQ1 report and an optimistic FQ2 forecast [12] International Market Developments - The Euro Stoxx 50 Index rose +0.26%, with retail and energy stocks gaining ground amid central bank meetings [7] - Japan's Nikkei 225 Index closed down -1.03%, led by declines in technology stocks, particularly SoftBank Group [11] Corporate News - China International Capital Corp. rose over +3% after announcing plans to acquire two rivals in a share-swap deal valued at approximately $16 billion [10] - Lululemon Athletica climbed more than +6% in pre-market trading after Elliott Investment Management acquired a stake exceeding $1 billion [13]