US stock futures hovered around the flatline as Wall Street awaited another pulse check on inflation after Tuesday's tepid figures sent rate-cut bets and markets soaring.

Stocks were higher late Thursday, back on record ground, despite a hotter-than-expected reading on July PPI.

The benchmark S&P 500 and Nasdaq hovered near record highs on Wednesday, but the market reflected weakness in some technology stocks after the previous day's strong gains on hopes that the Federal Reserve was getting close to a monetary easing cycle.