Wall Street is heading for a positive opening, judging by futures on the S&P500 (+0.4%) and Nasdaq-100 (+0.5%), with a rather disappointing inflation report apparently not enough to overshadow a very solid Oracle publication the previous day.

According to the Labor Department, the US consumer price index rose by 3.2% in February compared with the same month in 2023, an annual rate 0.1 points higher than in January, and in line with Jefferies' expectations.

Excluding energy (-1.9%) and food (+2.2%), two traditionally volatile categories, the US annual inflation rate nevertheless stood at 3.8% last month, whereas Jefferies had expected it at 3.7%.

With inflation remaining more stubborn than previously thought, we can expect the Fed to maintain its wait-and-see approach until we see a steady downward trend in inflation', reacts ADSS.

In stock news, Oracle reported a 16% rise in adjusted EPS for its third quarter 2023-24 on Monday evening, as the enterprise software company benefited fully from the dynamism of its cloud activities.

We expect to continue to receive major contracts for the reservation of cloud infrastructure capacity, as demand for our Gen2 AI infrastructure far outstrips supply", said CEO Safra Catz.

The 3M conglomerate has announced the appointment of William Brown as chief executive officer, effective May 1. He will succeed Michael Roman, who will take on the title of executive chairman of the board.

Alcoa has reached a binding agreement to acquire the Australian group Alumina Limited, in a share exchange transaction that values Alumina's equity at around $2.2 billion.

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