At this rate, they could kill the AMZN 90s as well
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Look! We(coincidence that you can't have "participants" without the letters PPT?) found a handful of (that would be 3) retailing bright spots to not only offset the news of inflation at 17 year high, but ignite a 1% jump across the board.
We're not even halfway through Aug, and they're already conveniently assuming oil will stay here or lower for the rest of the month and make a sizable dent in CPI.
Have we forgotten about other factors- because the market is up at the moment?
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12:00 pm : Participants have lifted the major indices out of the red despite disappointing economic data. Upbeat results from a handful of retailers and a recent decline in oil prices are helping.
The core rate on July CPI advanced 0.3% for the second straight month and was higher than expected, thus causing disappointment. The core increase suggests higher import prices and recent pressures on commodity prices have led to some cost-push inflation.
Total CPI pushed higher, thanks to food and energy costs. It was up 5.6% year-over-year, which is more than the 5.1% increase that was forecast. It was also more than the 5.0% increase registered in June. However, the August CPI will probably be much better, given the recent decline in oil and commodity prices.
Also disappointing market participants in the early going were initial jobless claims of 450,000 for the week ending Aug. 9. Though weekly claims fell 10,000, the four-week moving average rose 19,000 to 440,500. The trend reflects a deterioration in the labor market that is going to feed concerns about consumer spending activity.
Despite the negative implications associated with the morning's economic data, stocks are moving higher. Retailers are trading nearly 2% higher in the wake of better-than-expected results from Wal-Mart (WMT 57.99, +0.11), Urban Outfitters (URBN 34.74, +0.69), and Estee Lauder (EL 49.72, +4.76).
Retailers are also being helped by a decline in oil prices. After moving higher in early action the price of crude is now down 1.2% to trade below $115 per barrel. The decline is eating into its advance in the previous session. The energy sector is down 1.1% as a result; it is one of the worst |
