Wall Street little changed after inflation, labor market data
Send a link to a friend
[January 12, 2024] By
Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. stocks closed little changed on Thursday as
news of hotter-than-expected inflation and signs of labor market
strength dampened hopes for early interest rate cuts by the Federal
Reserve this year, but a fall in Treasury yields kept declines in check.
In a choppy session, equities opened higher and the benchmark S&P 500
briefly surpassed its record closing high of 4,796.56, hit in January
2022, before erasing initial gains.
After ending 2023 with a strong rally, stocks have struggled to find
upward momentum, with the S&P 500 up only 0.21% on the year, as mixed
economic data and Fed officials' comments have led investors to scale
back expectations for the timing and size of any rate cuts from the U.S.
central bank this year.
The U.S. Labor Department reported that consumer prices rose more than
expected in December, with Americans paying more for shelter and
healthcare. A separate report showed the number of people filing new
claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week to 202,000.
"They're just understanding it for what it was. The thing that pushed it
up was primarily shelter," said Scott Ladner, chief investment officer
at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"Nobody believes that is going to be a persistent go-forward problem
apart from inflation, so the thing that drove the 'hot print' was
something that everybody's kind of discounting."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Jan/12/images/ads/current/fricke_sda_LUAL_2023.png)
Comments from some Fed officials have pushed back on potential rate
cuts. On Thursday, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester and Richmond
Fed President Tom Barkin said consumer price data for December did
little to assure them inflation is now on a steady track back to the
central bank's 2% target, with more information needed before any
decision to begin reducing rates.
At 4:11 p.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 15.29 points, or
0.04%, to 37,711.02. The S&P 500 lost 3.21 points, or 0.07%, at 4,780.24
and the Nasdaq Composite gained just 0.54 points, at 14,970.19.
A fall in Treasury yields helped keep losses for equities in check,
after an auction of $21 billion in 30-year bonds was well received.
[to top of second column] |
![](../images/011224PIX/busine69.jpg)
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in
New York City, U.S., January 9, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File
Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Jan/12/images/ads/current/atlantabank_lda_LUAL_2023.png)
"People are still worried about supply in the Treasury market. ...
Is there going to be sufficient demand to soak that all up? And
especially at the long end, the real fear is at the long end and the
auction today, it was just perfect," said Ladner.
Microsoft briefly overtook Apple as the world's most valuable
company, after the iPhone maker's shares dropped nearly 4% since the
year began due to concerns over falling demand. Microsoft's shares
rose 0.49%, while Apple shed 0.32%.
Nearly all of the S&P 500's 11 major sectors declined, with only
energy and technology in positive territory, up 0.16% and 0.44%,
respectively.
Crypto stocks reversed early gains and tumbled, with names such as
Coinbase off 6.7%, Bitfarms down 13.33% and Riot Platforms 15.82%
lower. The U.S. securities regulator approved the first U.S.-listed
exchange-traded funds (ETF) to track spot bitcoin late on Wednesday.
Citigroup fell 1.77% after a filing showed the lender booked about
$3.8 billion in combined charges and reserves that will erode its
fourth-quarter earnings, due to be reported on Friday.
Other banks including fell, with JPMorgan Chase, down 0.42%, Bank of
America, down 1.33% and Wells Fargo off 0.08% ahead of their
earnings reports on Friday.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.3-to-1 ratio on the
NYSE and a 1.8-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 40 new 52-week highs and one new low, while
the Nasdaq recorded 109 new highs and 138 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 11.41 billion shares, compared with the
12.27 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading
days.
(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Richard Chang)
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |