Wall Street set for mixed start as inflation jitters persist

Wall Street indices are set for a subdued open on Friday morning, with the Dow Jones industrial Average called 45 points lower at 33,649 and the S&P 500 4 points lower at 4,207. The Nasdaq may offer some respite as futures are pointing at a green open, up 19 points to 14,176. Declines in the former two indices highlight the ongoing concerns that rising inflation could soon curtail the expansive monetary policy mix around the world. “Despite promises that central banks will remain accommodative, we are evidently moving towards a phase which will become increasingly dominated by attempting to quantify just how long we have left until the pendulum starts to swing back towards monetary tightening,” analysts at IG said. “With Norway’s central bank laying out plans to start raising rates in September, we are evidently seeing growing confidence that the worst is behind us and thus normalisation will be required to avoid overheating.” Thursday came with another rally for the US dollar overnight, with the index rising through its 200-DMA at 91.50 on its way to a close at 91.90, a 0.55% gain for the day. “A less-dovish FOMC, foreign inflows into the US bond market, and a speculative market that was well short of US DOllars into the FOMC, should see the US Dollar rally continue into next week,” analysts at OANDA said. Three things to watch for on Friday: Firms reporting earnings at the end of the week include shipping firm Globus Maritime Ltd (NASDAQ:GLBS) and Continental Energy Corp (OTCMKTS:CPPXF) Shares in software firm Adobe Inc (NASDAQ:ADBE) will be in focus after the company reported strong second quarter earnings after the closing bell on Thursday The macro diary is a little bare for Friday, although some oil rig data may interest some in the market