Stock futures fell after the S&P 500 reached a new high, despite rising inflation

Futures on U.S. stocks early Friday morning after S&P 500 reached a new high during regular trading, despite inflation data hotter than expected.

Dow Jones industrial average futures scored 21 points, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were close to flat.

During the regular session, the Dow Jones industry average rose 19 points, or 0.06%, to 34,466.24. The S&P 500 ended the day up 0.47% to 4,239.18. The Nasdaq Composite Day rose 0.78% to 14,020.33.

The labor department reported data on the consumer price index on Thursday, showing that inflation is such growing at the fastest pace since 2008 while the economy is recovering from a pandemic-related recession.

The CPI represents a basket that includes food, energy, groceries and prices for the full range of goods, and in May it jumped 5% from a year earlier.

However, the markets rejected the news.

“A significant rate of this inflation may prove temporary because nearly half of the above-average jump in inflation comes from the base effects of last year’s weakened economy, and even supply shortages should be transient as companies increase productivity and begin to meet backward demand,” Jason Pride, director of private wealth at Glenmedeu.

Separately, initial unemployment claims for the week ending June 5 were 376,000 – the lowest amount of the Covid pandemic – according to a separate report from the Department of Labor released Thursday.