US Stock Market Overview – Dow and S&P 500 Close at All-time Highs

David Becker

Fri, Jul 12, 2019, 6:07 PM

US stocks were mixed on Friday, with the Dow Industrials and S&P 500 index closing at all time higher. Most sectors were higher led by Industrials, Healthcare and Utilities bucked the trend. Energy shares edged higher as Tropical storm Barry has sustained winds of 65-miles per hour and is expected to become a hurricane hitting the Louisiana coast. Both natural gas and crude oil prices close the week in the black. Wholesale inflation rose on Friday following and increase in retail inflation earlier in the week. The dovish backdrop following Fed Chair Powell’s testimony on Wednesday and Thursday continued buoy riskier assets.

Intermediate Inflation at the Wholesale Level is Subdued

US producer prices rose slightly in June as the cost of energy and other goods fell for a second straight month, offsetting an acceleration in services, leading to the smallest annual increase in producer inflation in nearly 30-months. The Labor Department said on Friday its producer price index for final demand edged up 0.1% last month after a similar gain in May. In the 12 months through June, the PPI rose 1.7%, the smallest gain since January 2017, slowing further from a 1.8% increase in May. Expectations were for PPI to remain unchanged increasing 1.6% on a year-on-year basis. Underlying producer prices slowed last month, a sign that overall inflation could remain moderate despite strong gains in prices of most consumer goods and services in June.

Excluding the volatile food, energy and trade services components, producer prices were unchanged in June after rising 0.4% for two straight months. The core PPI increased 2.1% in the 12 months through June after advancing 2.3% in May.

The FTC Approves a Fine For Facebook

The Federal Trade Commission has endorsed a roughly $5 billion settlement with Facebook over a long-running probe into the tech giant’s privacy missteps. FTC commissioners this past week voted 3-2 in favor of the agreement, with the Republican majority backing the pact while Democratic commissioners objected. The matter has been moved to the Justice Department’s civil division and it is unclear how long it will take to finalize.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire