- US stocks closed the week mostly lower, as investors digested mixed inflation numbers.
- Although the CPI for July was lower than anticipated, the Producer Price Index was higher than estimates.
- The Federal Reserve will use the conflicting data to make its next interest rate decisions.
US stocks ended the week mixed and mostly lower on Friday as investors digested inflationary data. This will be a major factor in the Federal Reserve’s September interest rate decision.
The July consumer prices index was lower than expected by economists and indicated a continued cooling of inflation. Meanwhile, the July producer price index was hotter than estimated by economists, although it did show that most prices have fallen from last year’s levels.
CME FedWatch Tool says that despite conflicting data, investors are still expecting the Federal Reserve not to raise interest rates during their FOMC meeting in September. The Fed will still make a decision based on the August CPI report and the jobs report.
Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL, said: “The rise in wholesale prices is a reminder that despite its data-dependent approach to inflation control the Fed has not yet declared victory.” “Today’s Report offers the hawkish arm of the Fed additional ammunition to advocate another rate hike until the Fed is confident it has reached its terminal interest rate,” said LPL’s chief global strategist Quincy Krosby.
Here are the US indexes at 4:00 p.m. on Friday.
What else is happening today?
In commodities, bonds and cryptocurrency:
- West Texas IntermediateCrude oil rose by 0.40% to $83.15/barrel. BrentThe international benchmark, rose 0.32% to $86.68 a barrel.
- GoldThe price of gold per ounce fell by 0.20%, to $1945.00.
- The yield of the 10-year Treasury bond increased by six basis points, to 4.17%.
- BitcoinThe price of the car fell by 0.23%, to $29360.
