Futures mixed as investors await key inflation data

By Amruta Khandekar and Ankika Biswas

March 31 (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures were mixed on Friday as investors awaited inflation data for cues on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy path amid receding fears of a banking crisis.

The Commerce Department is expected to release the February reading of the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, at 8:30 am ET (12:30 GMT).

The report is expected to show consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, likely rose 0.3% in February, after jumping 1.8% in January.

“People are somewhat cautious (ahead of the data). It’s just a matter of how the inflation numbers come out and if there is a drop in both top and core, then the market can continue to rally,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.

Friday will cap a turbulent first quarter for stocks, marked by sticky inflation, shockwaves from the collapse of two regional U.S. banks and signs of trouble in some European banks, as well as a repricing of interest rate expectations from the Fed.