In overnight trading on Thursday, stock futures showed little change as the S&P 500 index prepared to conclude what could be its worst week in almost six months. With futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average inching up by just 13 points, S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures remained flat.

Despite beating expectations with its quarterly earnings, shares of streaming giant Netflix fell over 4% in extended trading. Netflix reported a 16% increase in subscribers compared to the previous year but announced its decision to no longer report paid memberships starting in 2025.

The S&P 500 has experienced a decline for five consecutive sessions, leading to week-to-date losses of 2.2%. If this trend continues, it would mark the large-cap benchmark's third negative week in a row and its most significant weekly loss since October 27, 2023. Currently, the S&P 500 is down by 4.8% from its 52-week high.

This market pullback can be largely attributed to reduced expectations for an imminent rate cut. Economists and strategists now anticipate that the Federal Reserve will likely delay any rate cuts until at least September, and some are even considering the possibility of no reductions at all this year. Neel Kashkari, Minneapolis Fed President, suggested that the first rate cut might not occur until 2025.

"The stock market's biggest worry right now is inflation, which is re-accelerating and throwing cold water on the idea of any rate cuts in 2024, let alone one or two," commented Michael Landsberg, Chief Investment Officer at Landsberg Bennett Private Wealth Management.

Both the blue-chip Dow and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite are also expected to close the week in the red, with declines of 0.6% and 3.6% respectively so far. The Nasdaq is heading towards its fourth consecutive down week, marking the longest weekly losing streak since December 2022.

In other news, several companies are scheduled to report their quarterly results on Friday morning. This includes consumer products giant Procter & Gamble, oilfield services company SLB, and financial services firm American Express.

Main Street investors displayed an increase in bearishness in the latest weekly survey by the American Association of Individual Investors, with 34.0% of respondents expressing pessimism about the stock market's outlook over the next six months. This represents the highest level of bearish sentiment since early November. However, despite this rise, bullishness among investors remained above average for the 24th consecutive week, with 38.3% still expressing optimism.

Overall, the market continues to face uncertainty as investors await further developments and navigate inflation concerns.