Wall Street gets inflation bounce
Futures rebound on tame consumer inflation reading as investors await Bernanke speech; dollar stays under pressure.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stock futures turned higher Friday as investors cheered after a tamer-than-expected reading on inflation while they awaited a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
Less than an hour before the start of trading, Nasdaq and S&P futures were higher, suggesting a positive open for Wall Street.
The Consumer Price Index, a closely measure of inflation at the consumer level, was unchanged during February after an uptick in the previous month, the government reported.
The so-called core reading, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, also held steady. Economists were expecting both readings to head higher.
Fed moves ahead? Friday's inflation reading could open the door for the Federal Reserve to take aggressive action on interest rates at next week's policy meeting. Rising inflation has become a growing concern for the central bank since it complicates its twin jobs of trying to keep the economy growing and keeping prices in check.
Bernanke is scheduled to speak on sustainable homeownership in Washington. His comments will also be scrutinized for any reference he makes to the CPI report and outlook for interest rates.
President Bush is also due to discuss the state of the economy in a speech he will deliver in New York.
Investors will also get the University of Michigan's March reading on U.S. consumer sentiment at 10 a.m. ET. Economists are anticipating a decline from February.
Investors still on edge. Stocks managed to end Thursday's session higher as investors bet that the worst of the writedown storm that has battered financial firms was over. But the weak dollar and concerns about a protracted economic downturn in the U.S. kept investors nervous.
The dollar again retreated below ¥100, while the euro marched higher to another record of $1.5651. But those losses were tempered by speculation by some securities firms that central banks could announce an intervention plan to shore up the sagging U.S. currency.
Asian markets tumbled, with Japan's Nikkei losing 1.5%. European stocks edged higher in late morning trading.
Oil prices retreated after hitting another trading record of $111 a barrel in the previous session. Light, sweet crude for April delivery lost 29 cents to $110.04 a barrel.
Gold looked to move back across the $1,000 mark after breaking through the key psychological level just a day earlier. COMEX gold rose $2.50 to $996.50 an ounce.
In corporate news, retailing giant Target Corp. (TGT, Fortune 500) is reportedly in talks with JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) about the bank taking over half of its credit-card operations for about $4 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Top executives from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT, Fortune 500) met with Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO, Fortune 500) leaders Monday to present their takeover offer and how they envisioned a combined company, the Journal also reported. 
