Surprises Related To Inflation Keep Wall Street On Its Toes

(CTN News) – Stocks are holding up despite another hot inflation update. S&P 500 slipped 0.2% in early trading Friday after hitting an all-time high the day before.

In Nasdaq, hardly any changes occurred. It was another reminder that the price war continues. Bond yields shot up immediately after the report. Federal Reserve rate cuts won’t begin in March after the data. Profits at Applied Materials exceeded expectations.

Despite a week of ups and downs, Wall Street traded mixed early Friday.

S&P 500 futures gained 0.1% and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 0.1%. Many economic reports are coming out that will move markets. In January, U.S. retailer sales declined more than expected, according to mixed economic data. The economy avoided recession despite a large drop in household spending. Additionally, inflation could be relieved.

According to a separate report, fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected, despite high-profile layoff announcements.

In total, the economic reports helped lower Treasury yields. Late Wednesday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.24%. Yields swung. Economic, inflation, and job reports have outperformed expectations on Wall Street, delaying forecasts for when the Fed will cut rates. The Fed has already raised its main interest rate to its highest level since 2001.

We’re hoping high rates will squeeze the economy just enough to get inflation down to a comfortable level.

We’ll get the government’s wholesale inflation report and the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index later Friday.

Applied Materials was among Friday’s premarket gainers, jumping more than 11% after beating Wall Street’s forecasts on sales and profit.

Even after beating analysts’ fourth-quarter sales forecasts, Dropbox’s off-hours trading was down nearly 11%. Before the bell, Yelp fell more than 9% after it missed profit forecasts. It’s been 35 years since Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index peaked and then plunged after Japan’s bubble burst.

The Nikkei 225 rose 0.9% to 38,487.24. Just below the record high of 38,915.87 it set on Dec. 29, 1989, just before property and share prices tumbled. 38,865.06 on Friday.

Stock prices are rising despite signs of weakness in the Japanese economy, which went into recession in the last quarter. Despite efforts to maintain growth at higher levels, weak consumer spending and private investment have undermined efforts.

Tax-free investment accounts have caused a runup in Japanese share prices. In the Chinese market, investors have fled due to weak yens. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 2.5% to 16,339.96 and Seoul’s Kospi rose 1.3% to 2,648.76.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7% to 7,658.30. Bangkok’s SET fell 0.1% and India’s Sensex rose 0.6%. In contrast, Taiwan’s inflation index fell 0.2% a day after breaking a record high. Since artificial intelligence is expected to grow, analysts upgraded Nvidia’s share price recommendation.

At midday, Germany’s DAX was up 0.7% and the CAC 40 was up 0.5%. FTSE 100 rose 1.2%. Other trading Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange saw U.S. benchmark crude oil drop 54 cents to $77.49 per barrel.

Oil prices rose 71 cents to $82.15 a barrel on Friday. Yen rose to 150.24 from 149.94. Euro fell modestly to $1.0771 from $1.0773.

S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 5,029.73 on Thursday, just above its all-time high. Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.9% to 38,773.12 and Nasdaq composite rose 0.3% to 15,906.17.

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