US stock market futures inch higher after lower inflation data; Gold and silver trade lower

The US stock market futures traded flat on Tuesday morning after a holiday on Monday on account of Presidents' Day. The US markets ended mostly in green on Friday after the release of the Labour Department's highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation in the month of January. The report showed consumer prices rose by slightly less than expected on a monthly basis, while the annual rate of growth slowed by more than anticipated.

S&P 500 rose 3.41 points or 0.05% to 6,836.17, and Dow Jones Industrial Average added 48.95 points or 0.1% to 49,500.93, while Nasdaq decreased 50.47 points or 0.22% to 22,546.67. The previous week marked a sharp decline in the US stock market as the Dow Jones closed 1.23% lower, the S&P500 by 1.39% and the NASDAQ by 2.1%.

The Labour Department said its consumer price index rose by 0.2% in January after climbing by 0.3% in December. The annual rate of growth by consumer prices slowed to 2.4% in January from 2.7% in December, coming in below estimates of 2.5%.

The tamer-than-expected headline inflation data led to some renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates and a continued slump by treasury yields. However, traders continued to express concerns about potential disruptions caused by the recent artificial intelligence buildout, keeping buying interest subdued.

Sector-wise, despite the lacklustre performance by the broader markets, gold stocks moved sharply higher along with the price of the precious metal, resulting in a 5.6% spike by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. Considerable strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 2.7% surge by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.

Meanwhile, the gold and silver prices continued to edge lower on Tuesday morning, extending the three-week decline in the precious metals. The silver prices touched the record high levels of $120 per ounce in January and plunged to $64 per ounce in February. Experts believe the demand in the Chinese market remained subdued owing to market holidays in Hong Kong and China.