Stocks opened lower on Friday, as investors continued to assess whether higher inflation measures or signs of easing inflation in July reports were more indicative of the path of interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was down 0.3%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was down about 0.5%. The Nasdaq Heavy Composite (^IXIC) fell nearly 0.8%. The benchmarks closed slightly higher, after paring larger gains earlier in the Thursday session.
New producer price data provided more insight into the inflation story and the prospects for a Fed rate delay. The government said producer prices rose 0.3% in July, more than expected. However, overall levels of inflation remained well below recent peaks.
While Thursday’s CPI reading showed inflation rising again for the first time in 13 months, some see convincing signs that price pressures are easing – increasing the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates at its next meeting.
But in an interview with Yahoo Finance, Mary Daly, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, said the Fed still had “more work to do” to calm price pressures. These upbeat statements helped cast some doubts about the inflation data, which is widely seen as positive.
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