Stock market today: Wall Street tries to extend gains, claw back more of last week's losses

Wall Street inched higher before the bell Thursday as markets try to extend this week's gains in hopes of clawing back more of last week's losses.

Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average each rose just less than 0.2% before markets opened.

Investors are taking in a smattering of earnings reports and corporate news ahead of the government's wholesale inflation and jobless claims reports later Thursday morning.

Moderna slumped about 7% in early trading after the drugmaker lowered its fiscal 2025 revenue forecast well below Wall Street's targets. The company, whose sales have cratered in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, is also reducing its 2025-2028 research and development investment by 20%, from $20 billion to $16 billion.

On Wednesday, the latest government report on U.S. inflation showed that overall inflation slowed to 2.5% in August from 2.9% in July, a touch better than expected. But prices rose more than expected from July into August when ignoring food and energy, and economists say that can be a better predictor of where inflation is heading.

The data seemed to confirm the U.S. Federal Reserve will likely cut its main interest rate at its meeting next week, which would be the first such cut in more than four years. A worry is that it may prove too late, with U.S. shoppers already struggling under the weight of high prices.

Across the Atlantic, the European Central Bank is expected to announce an interest rate cut to boost its flagging economy. Analysts aren't expecting a flurry of big rate cuts from the ECB as inflation there has slowed considerably thanks to falling energy prices.

At midday, France's CAC 40 rose 0.8%, while Germany's DAX jumped 1.2% and Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.8%.

In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 soared 3.4% to finish at 36,833.27, although the gains were partly a reflection of earlier sharp drops.

The recent cheaper yen was a boon for some issues, as it boosts the value of overseas earnings when converted into yen. Toyota Motor Corp. jumped 3.8%, while Nintendo Co. rose 1.5%.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 142.54 Japanese yen from 142.28. The euro cost $1.1014, down slightly from $1.1017.

Shares in Nippon Steel Corp. added 1.8% after Keidanren, a group of Japan’s top businesses, expressed in a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen concerns about “political interference” in Nippon Steel’s proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel Corp. U.S. Steel issues finished nearly 7% higher a day earlier.

“America’s investment climate will be severely tarnished if such political interference prevails,” according to the letter, which was also signed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Global Business Alliance, Alliance for Automotive Innovation and other groups.

Yellen oversees the government committee reviewing the takeover, while the White House recently signaled an openness to blocking the acquisition.

In the rest of the region, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.1% to 8,075.70. South Korea's Kospi rose 2.3% to 2,572.09. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 0.8% to 17,240.39, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.2% to 2,717.12.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude gained $1.12 to $68.43 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added $1.07 to $71.68 a barrel.