US stock futures traded cautiously on Friday, with the Dow Jones slipping about 0.17%, the S&P 500 easing nearly 0.1%, while Nasdaq futures inched up 0.07%. The mixed open follows Wall Street’s record-setting streak, where the Dow crossed 46,000 for the first time and both the S&P and Nasdaq notched new highs.

The latest numbers show August inflation rising 2.9% year-on-year, a notch higher than the Fed’s comfort zone, while jobless claims climbed to 263,000, the highest since October 2021. Instead of spooking markets, the data has reinforced bets on an interest-rate cut later this year.

Corporate action is adding fuel. Warner Bros. Discovery surged almost 30% on takeover chatter, Opendoor Technologies spiked more than 80% after naming a new chief executive, and Adobe jumped on stronger-than-expected earnings.

Oracle (ORCL) jumped 36% in its biggest single-day rally since 1992 after unveiling record cloud demand and a multi-billion-dollar AI-driven contract pipeline. Shares have since eased 6% on profit-taking but remain at elevated valuations, with a forward P/E near 30. Execution on its backlog, including deals tied to OpenAI, will be key to sustaining momentum.