Last Updated: 4:03 PM EST
Stock indices finished today’s trading session in the green after a slew of economic data reduced recession fears. As a result, the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), the S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 2.46%, 1.61%, and 1.39%, respectively.
To begin with, the Department of Labor released its Initial Jobless Claims report, which came in better than expected. In the past week, 227,000 people filed for unemployment insurance for the first time. Expectations were for 236,000 individuals.
In addition, Continuing Jobless Claims, which measures the number of unemployed people who qualify for unemployment insurance, came in at 1.864 million. This was below the forecast of 1.88 million and lower than last week’s print of 1.871 million.
On a more negative note, the Federal Reserve put out its U.S. Industrial Production report, which measures the change in the total value of output produced by manufacturers, utilties, and mines. These figures are adjusted for inflation. For July, industrial production decreased by -0.6% on a month-over-month basis. This was worse than the -0.3%.
However, the star of today’s economic show was the retail sales report. Overall, spending increased by 2.66% year-over-year and 1% month-over-month. Economists had forecast a 0.4% month-over-month increase. When looking at core retail figures, which removes automobile spending, sales increased by 0.4% month-over-month, beating estimates of 0.1%.
First Published: 4:37 AM EST
U.S. futures were higher on Thursday morning as investors cheered this week’s positive inflation data, fueling expectations that the Federal Reserve might soon reduce interest rates. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), the S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) were up by about 0.18%, 0.35%, and 0.4%, respectively, at 3:32 a.m. EST, August 15.
On Wednesday, the stock closed higher, buoyed by the Consumer Price Index report, which reflected a decline in the annual inflation rate to 2.9%, the lowest since 2021. Yesterday, the Nasdaq Composite, the S&P 500, and the Dow Jones indices gained 0.03%, 0.38%, and 0.61%, respectively.
In major after-market action, Cisco Systems (CSCO) gained over 5% on strong Q4 results. Further, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) soared 14% after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) revealed a major investment in the company. Nike (NKE) also jumped 3.3% following a stake purchase by Bill Ackman‘s Pershing Square.
Moving to today’s key economic releases, investors are awaiting the U.S. Retail Sales and Industrial Production reports for further insight into the economy’s health. Also, Initial Jobless Claims data for the week ended August 9, is up for release today.
On the corporate earnings front, some of the major companies, such as Walmart (WMT), Alibaba (BABA), Applied Materials (AMAT), Ross Stores (ROST), Deere (DE), and JD.com (JD), are scheduled to release their quarterly figures today.
Meanwhile, the U.S. 10-year treasury yield was up, floating near 3.84% at the time of writing. The WTI crude oil futures are trending higher, hovering near $77.14 per barrel as of the last check.
Elsewhere, European indices opened higher on Thursday morning as investors reacted positively to the cooler-than-expected U.S. inflation report.
Asia-Pacific Markets Traded Higher on Thursday
Asia-Pacific indices were higher today as investors digested stronger-than-expected Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Retail Sales reports from Japan and China, respectively.
At the time of writing, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.07%. Further, China’s Shenzhen Component and Shanghai Composite indices gained by 0.71% and 0.94%, respectively. At the same time, Japan’s Nikkei and Topix indices closed up by 0.78% and 0.73%, respectively.
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