Stock Market Opening: 5 Things You Need to Know

U.S. stock prices are edging downwards as investors prepare to receive today’s important inflation report. The Personal Consumption Expenditures report is expected to show that inflation remained elevated during February. General Motors shares continue to fall after President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on auto imports. CoreWeave, a cloud computing firm backed by Nvidia (NVDA), is expected to debut on the Nasdaq today. U.S. Steel shares are soaring on a report Here’s what you need to know as an investor today.

1. US Stock Futures Falling Ahead of Key Inflation Report

U.S. Stock Futures are moving lower ahead of the release of important inflation data today, after indexes fell a second time in a row on Thursday. Nasdaq Futures are 0.3% lower than the previous session, when the tech-heavy Nasdaq Index fell by 0.5%. S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures also are pointing slightly lower after the indexes recorded losses yesterday. Bitcoin (BTCUSD), which is currently trading below $85,000, is also falling. Oil futures and the 10-year Treasury yield are also lower. Gold futures are on the rise.

2. PCE data is expected to show the inflation rate remained high in February

The Personal Consumption Expenditures data (PCE) will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. It is expected that the inflation rate remained stubbornly high in February. ET. The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires polled economists who expect the PCE to measure prices at the same level in February as the previous month. “Core” inflation—the benchmark that officials at the Federal Reserve use to gauge whether inflation is running at the central bank’s target of a 2% annual rate—is expected to have risen 2.7%, up from 2.6% in January.

3. GM Stocks Fall Further After New Auto Tariffs

General Motors (GM) shares are falling 1% further in premarket trading after shedding more than 7% yesterday on President Trump’s auto tariffs announcement. Stallantis shares, which own Jeep and Chrysler, are down over 2% following a 1.3% drop on Thursday. Ford (F), however is edging up after a nearly 4-percent decline yesterday. Tesla (TSLA) stocks, which were viewed to have little exposure from the tariffs are up more that 1% after rising by 0.4% yesterday.

4. CoreWeave Nvidia-backed expected to begin trading today

CoreWeave, a cloud computing company backed by Nvidia (NVDA), is expected to start trading today on the Nasdaq under the ticker “CRWV.” The company on Thursday priced its initial public offering (IPO) at $40 per share, below the expected range of $47 to $55 per share. CoreWeave sold 37.5 million shares instead of the 49 million anticipated. The company’s valuation would be about $23 billion if the shares were fully diluted.

5. US Steel Stocks Increase on Report of Nippon Investment To Save Merger

U.S. Steel (X) shares are up about 5% in premarket trading after Semafor reported that Nippon Steel is offering to spend as much as $7 billion to upgrade the American company’s aging Rust Belt facilities in a bid to obtain Trump administration approval of their $14 billion merger. The Biden administration had blocked the sale of U.S. Steel to the Japanese firm on national security grounds in January. Trump said in a press conference held in February that he preferred Nippon Steel to invest in U.S. Steel instead of buying it.