(Reuters] – The futures of the Nasdaq fell Thursday, after indexes posted strong gains over the previous two sessions. Investors are awaiting U.S. inflation figures that may trigger wagers on faster interest rate rises.

According to the Labor Department figures, which are due at 8:30 AM ET, consumer prices rose 7.3% in January. This is a similar level as the inflation shocks that occurred in the 1970s or 1980s. However, Federal Reserve officials believe the peak might be coming.

Traders bet that the Fed would raise interest rates during its March meeting. The money market is certain of at minimum a quarter-point hike in next month’s calendar and there are 1-in-4 chances of an increase of half a percentage point.

U.S. stocks surged on Wednesday thanks to rate-sensitive stocks and a rebound in Treasury yields. A batch of solid earnings also supported sentiment.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya is senior analyst at Swissquote. “The pre–CPI rally in U.S. stock prices suggests that the Federal Reserve’s hawkish expectations have been broadly priced-in, and that that perception of the worst reaction to Fed rate rises has mostly ended,” he said.

“But there is a risk that investor optimism is premature, and a stronger-than-expected inflation read could send all the recent gains crashing, as there is still room for Fed hawks to price in a tighter Fed policy.”

Wall Street experienced a volatile start to 2014 as investors priced aggressive tightening measures from the Fed and other central banks in the face of rising inflation. This was accompanied by a hammering on high-growth tech stocks, which have driven markets to unprecedented heights.

The group saw a temporary respite at the beginning of February, with Nasdaq, a tech-heavy stock exchange, gaining almost 10% over its January trough.

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:), Tesla (NASDAQ:) Inc, Google-owner Alphabet (NASDAQ:) Inc, Microsoft Corp After gaining ground over the previous two sessions, both Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ) and (NASDAQ) traded slightly lower in premarket trades

At 06:51 AM. ET were up 34 point, or 0.1%. They were also down 7 points or 0.15% and down 41.25 or 0.27%.

Meanwhile, the earnings season continued to be supportive, with 77.8% of the 316 companies in the S&P 500 that reported earnings through Wednesday topping analysts’ profit expectations, according to Refinitiv data.

Walt Disney (NYSE) Co jumped 7.5%, beating revenue estimates and profit expectations. It was helped by strong attendance and Disney+ subscriber growth at U.S. parks. Mattel Inc After forecasting full year profit higher than estimates, (NASDAQ:), shares soared 11.6%

PepsiCo Inc (NASDAQ:) Inc rose 1.1% following beating estimates for revenue. The company announced a 7% rise in annualized dividends and a $10 billion stock buyback plan.

Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:) Inc rose 5.5% following the reporting of its second quarter operating profit. This was due to increased demand for ride-hailing services and profitability in its food delivery businesses.