Stock futures were little changed on Wednesday after another hot inflation reading sent the major averages tumbling to their worst day since June 2020 and dampened investors' expectations of a less hawkish Federal Reserve.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials poked up 28 points, or 0.1%, early Wednesday to 31,240.
Futures for the S&P 500 gathered five points, or 0.1%, to 3,955.25
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite Index moved ahead 10.75 points, or 0.1%, to 12,126.50.
The market moves came after August's consumer price index report showed headline inflation rose 0.1% on a monthly basis despite a drop in gas prices.
The hot inflation report left questions over whether stocks could go back to their June lows or fall even further. It also spurred some fears that the Federal Reserve could potentially hike even higher than the 75 basis points markets are pricing in.
A reading of the producer price index is due out Wednesday morning and could offer further clues into the state of inflation before the Fed's rate-hike meeting next week.
All 30 Dow stocks and S&P 500 sectors finished the session lower, led to the downside by communications services.
The sector fell 5.6% and finished its worst day since February, dragged down by shares of big technology names like Netflix and Meta Platforms, which tumbled about 7.8% and 9.4%, respectively.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index faded 2.8% Wednesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng withered 2.5%.
Oil prices dropped 51 cents to $86.80 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $3.60 to $1,713.80 U.S. an ounce.