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SOLID DATA BOOSTS STOCK FUTURES

A slew of economic data was released early Thursday, most of which is positive.

PCE income growth and consumption was better than expected, while headline and core price indexes were generally in line with consensus.

The Commerce Department's final take on Q1 GDP surprised to the upside, landing at 2.1% on a quarterly annualized basis, much stronger than the 1.6% growth reported in last month's revision. One sour note: consumer spending growth was revised sharply lower, to 0.5% from 1.4%.

And new orders for core capital goods, a predictor of business spending plans, breezed past economist expectations, rising 1.6% versus the 0.6% economists predicted.

S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 jumped after the data release, and 10-year U.S. Treasury yields cooled from about 4.41% to 4.37%.

CME's FedWatch tool now shows a greater likelihood of a rate hike from the Federal Reserve by year-end.

"(The data) suggests that inflation most likely has peaked," says Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities. "And that should be sweet to the ears of the Federal Reserve.”

The stock market appears to have set itself up for a risk-on session.

(Stephen Culp)

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