Wall Street Mixed After Soft PPI Release
On Thursday, stocks on Wall Street generally traded higher, as more signs of easing inflation fueled expectations of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
The NASDAQ Composite rose 100 points, or 0.6%, the S&P 500 traded 10 points, or 0.2%, higher and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 150 points, or 0.4%.
In May, U.S. producer prices fell unexpectedly, as the PPI declined 0.2% after in April advancing by an unrevised 0.5%.
After rising 2.3% in April, the PPI increased by 2.2% in the 12 months through May.
This came after data showing consumer prices did not change in May for the first time in close to 2 years, bolstering financial market hopes that the Fed may start reducing interest rates in Sept.
On Wednesday, the central bank held its benchmark overnight interest rate steady but indicated that it now expected to cut rates only once in 2024, down from March’s estimate for three cuts.
The spotlight has been on the tech sector this week after Apple announced new AI features for its devices, and that it was partnering with OpenAI to implement several of the features.
Cloud giant Oracle also announced AI partnerships with Microsoft and Alphabet.
Broadcom surged more than 14% after the chipmaker reported bumper earnings on AI demand.