S&P 500, Nasdaq futures at record highs on September rate cut hopes

(Reuters) - Futures tracking the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq indexes were pinned at record highs on Wednesday, buoyed by increasing confidence that the Federal Reserve could restart its monetary policy easing cycle next month.

Signs that U.S. taxes on imports have not fully filtered into headline consumer prices sparked a relief rally on Wall Street in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P 500 marking its first record high close in two weeks.

Despite core inflation marking its biggest jump since the start of the year, investors factored in recent weakness in the job market and a shake-up at the Federal Reserve as they leaned in favor of a potential dovish move by the central bank in September.

Interest rate futures now reflect a 98% chance of a 25 basis points interest rate cut, according to data compiled by LSEG, compared with 88.8% on Tuesday. The central bank last lowered borrowing costs in December.

"A benign CPI report, coming on the heels of weak non-farm payrolls, has strengthened the case for a September Fed cut," said Nikos Tzabouras, senior market analyst at Tradu.com.

"However, market euphoria could be challenged as stagflation risks persist, potentially eroding consumption and hurting advertising - a key revenue stream for many tech giants."

At 7:10 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 132 points, or 0.30%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 13.25 points, or 0.20% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 58.25 points, or 0.24%.

The CBOE volatility index popularly referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, dropped to 14.46 - its lowest since January.

Rate-sensitive banking stocks such as Bank of America and Citigroup were marginally higher in premarket trading after the broader sector logged its biggest daily rise in three months on Tuesday.

Analysts said a steepening yield curve following the inflation report could help bank earnings as lenders could borrow cheap and lend at a higher rate.