US stock futures hovered below the flatline on Friday as investors looked ahead to a slew of earnings from big Wall Street banks and assessed fresh inflation data.

By 03:48 ET (07:48 GMT), the Dow futures contract had slid by 46 points or 0.1%, S&P 500 futures had shed 8 points or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures had dipped by 37 points or 0.2%.

The main averages closed the prior session in the red following Labor Department numbers that showed hotter-than-anticipated price growth in September. First-time claims for unemployment benefits last week were also higher than economists had projected.

Both data points come as the Federal Reserve is attempting to engineer a "soft landing" for the US economy, in which once-elevated inflation is defeated without igniting a sharp downturn in the labor market or broader activity. The Fed slashed interest rates by an outsized 50 basis points last month, arguing that it was necessary to help bolster labor demand during a time of waning inflationary pressures.

In the wake of the data, traders were pricing in a roughly 86% chance the central bank will roll out a more traditional 25-basis point reduction at its next meeting in November, according to the CME Group's (NASDAQ:CME) closely-monitored FedWatch Tool. There was about a 14% probability that the Fed would keep borrowing costs unchanged at a range of 4.75% to 5.00%.