Washington, May 11 (AP) Wall Street edged lower in premarket trading on Thursday ahead of the US government's second release of data on inflation in two days.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrials fell 0.3 per cent, while the S and P 500 slipped less than 0.1 per cent before the bell.

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On Wednesday, most major US indices finished higher after new data suggested inflation in the United States was cooling, though it remains uncomfortably high. A report on inflation at the wholesale level arrives on Thursday, along with the weekly jobless claims data.

Traders upped the probability they see of the Fed holding rates steady in June to nearly 94 per cent, according to data from CME Group.

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The Fed has jacked up rates at a furious pace in hopes of driving down inflation. But high rates do that by slowing the entire economy and hitting investment prices broadly. They've already sent stock prices tumbling, caused turmoil in the banking system and dragged on the economy enough that many investors expect a recession to hit this year.

The Walt Disney Co. tumbled more than 5 per cent in off-hours trading after the entertainment giant said it lost 4 million subscribers to its Disney+ streaming service.

The Biden administration is proposing new limits on greenhouse gas emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants, its most ambitious effort yet to roll back planet-warming pollution from the nation's second-largest contributor to climate change. The announcement did not appear to have a sizeable effect on the nation's largest power companies.

Inflation in the US still remains way above the Fed's 2 per cent target and continues to squeeze households across the economy, particularly those with the lowest incomes.

The majority of companies in the S and P 500 have topped profit forecasts so far this reporting season, which is approaching its final stretch. But they're still on pace to report an overall drop in earnings from a year earlier, which would be the second straight quarter that's happened.

Besides worries about interest rates and inflation, some corners of the bond market are also swinging on concerns about the US government inching closer to a possible default on its debt. That's never happened before, and economists warn a default could be catastrophic for the economy and financial markets.

At midday in Europe France's CAC 40 gained 0.3 per cent, while Germany's DAX ticked down 0.2 per cent.

Britain's FTSE 100 slid 0.4 per cent after the Bank of England on Thursday raised interest rates to their highest level since late 2008 as it continues to combat stubbornly high inflation in the UK.

In a widely anticipated move, the bank's Monetary Policy Committee lifted its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5 per cent. The increase was its 12th in a row.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 finished little changed, inching up less than 0.1 per cent at 29,126.72. Australia's S and P/ASX 200 slipped less than 0.1 per cent to 7,251.90.

South Korea's Kospi sank 0.2 per cent to 2,491.00. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost nearly 0.1 per cent to 19,743.79, while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.3 per cent to 3,309.55.

Concerns about the Chinese economy remain a major focus, especially for the Asian region, with the latest cause for worry coming from trade data released on Tuesday.

China's imports shrank at a faster pace, slumping 7.9 per cent. Trade with the US and European Union showed a contraction from last year.

“China could be heading into a deflationary funk similar to the one that Japan is starting to emerge from,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.

In energy trading, benchmark US crude slipped 9 cents to USD 72.47 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, ticked down 2 cents to USD 76.39 a barrel.

In currency trading, the US dollar edged down to 134.23 Japanese yen from 134.28 yen. The euro cost USD 1.0936, down from USD 1.0984. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)