PPI data show sharp slowdown in March of U.S. wholesale inflation
The numbers: U.S. wholesale prices sank 0.5% in March to mark the biggest decline in...
The numbers: U.S. wholesale prices sank 0.5% in March to mark the biggest decline in almost three years, potentially a sign of further easing in inflation in the months ahead.
Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast no change in the producer price index. The drop last month was the biggest since the start of the pandemic in early 2020.
A separate measure of wholesale prices that strips out volatile food and energy costs, as well as trade margins, rose a scant 0.1% last month, the government said. That was also below Wall Street’s forecast. The increase in these so-called core prices over the past year eased to 3.6% from 4.5%.
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Stocks end lower as Fed minutes trump positive inflation reading
U.S. stock indexes finished lower in choppy trade on Wednesday after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s...
U.S. stock indexes finished lower in choppy trade on Wednesday after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s March policy meeting showed policymakers agreed that the stress in the banking sector would slow U.S. economic growth. Investors also assessed a March consumer price index report which shows inflation slowing, though still elevated.
The S&P 500SPX, -0.41% shed 16.99 points, or 0.4%, to end at 4,091.95
The Dow Jones Industrial AverageDJIA, -0.11% was off 38.29 points, or 0.1%, to finish at 33,646.50
The Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.85% dropped 102.54 points, or 0.9%, ending at 11,929.34
The energy sector is off to a higher start, supported by strength in the...
The energy sector is off to a higher start, supported by strength in the major market futures and the underlying commodities. U.S equities are expected to open higher after the release of March CPI data which showed inflation is cooling and as investors wait for Fed meeting minutes later today.
WTI and Brent crude oil were lower earlier but jumped as optimism that the U.S Federal Reserve is getting closer to ending its hawkish policy increased after the release of U.S CPI data for March. The U.S Consumer Production Index showed a rise of 0.1% in March, lower-than analyst estimates of a 0.2% month-over-month rise. Inflation eased to 5%, closer to the Fed’s 2% goal, and to its lowest in nearly two years. Traders will be watching out for weekly EIA data as analysts expect a decline in crude inventories. Meanwhile, the API reported crude inventories rose by about 380K barrels last week which had pressured futures earlier.
Natural gas futures are mostly unchanged for the second-consecutive session, despite forecasts for above-normal temperatures in the next two weeks.
Headline inflation rate tame in March, but core CPI reading remains elevated
The numbers: Consumer prices rose a scant 0.1% in March largely because of lower energy...
The numbers: Consumer prices rose a scant 0.1% in March largely because of lower energy costs, but U.S. inflation more broadly was still high and showed little sign of quickly subsiding.
Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast a 0.2% increase in the consumer price index. It was the smallest uptick in three months.
The yearly rate of inflation slowed to 5% from 6% and touched the lowest level since May 2021. What helped was an extremely high inflation reading in March 2022 dropping out of the yearly rate.
More negatively, the so-called core rate of inflation that omits food and energy rose a sharper 0.4%. Wall Street had forecast a 0.4% gain.
Fed officials don’t ignore food and energy given their importance as household staples, but they view the core rate as a more accurate predictor of future inflation trends.
