Stock futures are near flat Thursday night as investors await key inflation data

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 45 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures each rose 0.2%.

Stock futures were trading nearly flat Thursday evening as investors looked to the end of a losing week and month and awaited key inflation data.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 45 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures each rose 0.2%.

Those moves come as investors prepare for the final trading day of the week and month on Friday. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite has led the way down, sliding around 5.5% in February due largely to a 5% drop this week.

The S&P 500 has slid 2.5% week to date, while the Dow has seen more modest losses with a retreat of just 0.4%. Both are down nearly 3% on the month.

Traders have been rattled by President Donald Trump's promise of tariffs and recent economic reports flashing warning signs. A decline of 8.5% in megacap tech titan Nvidia in Thursday's session the back of earnings threw more cold water on investor sentiment.

"February is seasonally a volatile period of time for stocks, and that historical trend is playing out right now," said Michael Landsberg, chief investment officer at Landsberg Bennett Private Wealth Management. "Investors are in search of more clarity on tariffs, elevated inflation and the state of the consumer."

Investors on Friday will closely monitor January data for the personal consumption expenditures price index. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect the measure of price changes for consumers to rise 0.3% from December for an annualized gain of 2.5%. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core PCE is expect to increase by 0.3% month over month and 2.6% year over year.

Economic data on personal income and consumer spending is also expected in the morning.

The Securities and Exchange Commission issued long sought after guidance Thursday evening saying it does not deem most meme coins to be securities.

In a brief statement, the SEC said that meme coins such as Dogecoin and Trump have "limited or no use or functionality" and are "more akin to collectibles."

"A meme coin does not constitute any of the common financial instruments specifically enumerated in the definition of ‘security’ because, among other things, it does not generate a yield or convey rights to future income, profits, or assets of a business," the statement said. "In other words, a meme coin is not itself a security."

Dogecoin, the original meme coin and sixth largest cryptocurrency by market cap, rose 3%. The token tied to Solana, which has become the go-to host for meme coins - including the Official Trump meme coin - rose 2%.

Coinbase and Robinhood were up 1% each in after hours trading.The Nasdaq-100 index has fallen the fastest 5% or more from a recent all-time high in the shortest period of time since September 2020, according to Bespoke Investment Group.

The index, which tracks the 100 largest companies, adjusted for modified market capitalization, that trade on Nasdaq in the materials, consumer discretionary, consumer staples, healthcare, industrials, technology, telecommunications, and utilities industries, reached a recent all-time high of 15,872.8 on Wednesday, February 15.

Since then, the index has declined by 7.33%, closing Thursday at 14,734.28, for a decline of over 5%.

The index's prior fastest 5% decline from a recent all-time high came in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020. The index fell 10.9% from its March 2020 all-time high to close at 7,884.1 on March 18, 2020, the lowest level of the bear market.

The index rebounded sharply over the following six months to reach a new all-time high on February 12, 2021. Afterwards, the index slid 5% over the following 19 trading days to close at 11,924.8 on March 11, 2021.

The Nasdaq-100 index is now down about 11.5% year-to-date in 2024. At Thursday's close, the index is now trading at the lowest level since November 2022.

Investors will be closely watching January data for the personal consumption expenditures price index, a key measure of inflation closely tracked by the Federal Reserve.

Economists polled by Dow Jones expect the PCE index to rise 0.3% from December for an annualized gain of 2.5%. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core PCE is to increase by 0.3%