Dow Jones futures refresh all-time highs near 45,300 ahead of Trump-Putin meet

• Dow Jones futures hit an all-time high in the overnight session ahead of the Trump-Putin meeting.
• Hot US PPI could force traders to reassess Fed's interest rate cut bets.
• The US Retail Sales data is expected to have risen moderately by 0.5% in July.

Dow Jones futures post a fresh all-time high during the European trading session on Friday. United States (US) index futures strengthen even as hotter-than-projected United States (US) Producer Price Index (PPI) data for July has raised concerns about whether the Federal Reserve (Fed) will cut interest rates in the September policy meeting.

The scenario of monetary policy expansion increases demand for risky assets, such as US equities, as lower interest rates boost loan growth and business investment.

At the time of writing, Dow Jones Futures gained 0.8% to near 45,300. S&P 500 futures add 16 points and jump to near 6,485.

The US PPI report showed on Thursday that inflation at the wholesale level rose by 0.9% on a month, the fastest pace seen in three years. Economists anticipated a 0.2% growth after remaining flat in June. A significant increase in producer inflation suggests that business owners have started passing the impact of tariffs to consumers, a scenario that could allow the Fed to stick to its "wait and see" approach.

However, traders remain increasingly confident that the Fed will cut interest rates in the September meeting. According to the CME FedWatch tool, the probability of the Fed cutting interest rates in September is 92.6%, marginally down from 94.3% seen on Wednesday.

Going forward, investors will focus on the US Retail Sales data of July, and the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Friday. Economists expect the Retail Sales data, a key measure of consumer spending, to rise moderately by 0.5% on month. In June, the consumer spending measure grew by 0.6%.

On Thursday, the comments from US President Trump in an interview with Fox News, expressed confidence that Russian leader Putin would agree to stop the war in Ukraine. "I think he's going to make a deal, Trump said and added that he would then call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his European allies to schedule a meeting for further talks.