- PPI, retail data to weight on stocks
NEW YORK, July 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks are expected to
come under pressure after fresh data showed inflation at the
wholesale level came in below market expectations coupled with
weak retail sales last month.
Immediately after the data were releases, stock-index
futures, which had ben unchanged, fell slightly.
According to the U.S. Labor Department, the overall
producer price index fell 0.4 percent, while the core PPI,
which excludes food and energy components, rose 0.1 percent.
Economists polled by Reuters expected the overall PPI to
slip 0.1 percent after a 0.1 percent gain in May. The core
PPIwas forecast to rise 0.1 percent after posting a 0.2 percent
increase in May.
Retail sales rose 0.2 percent versus and expected rise of
0.3 percent. Excluding auto sales, retail sales fell 0.2
percent, against an expected rise of 0.2 percent.
The following are market strategists comments on the data:
EUGENE PROFIT, PORTFOLIO MANAGER WITH PROFIT INVESTMENT
MANAGEMENT LLC, IN SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND, WHICH OVERSEES $110
MILLION.
-- "I think that actually it's a negative for for market.
It was generally expected that the consumer would lead us out
of the economic downturn, but this begins to show the consumer
is cracking.
"It will be important to see consumer sentiment at 10 am.
If we had not had Microsoft's news we would not have rallied
yesterday.
"The futures have gone down pretty quickly. The only
positive is this gives the Fed more room to lower rates."
REUTERS
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