Wall St indexes fall after latest inflation data; Powell speech awaited
By Sinéad Carew and Lisa Pauline Mattackal
(Reuters) -Wall Street's main indexes lost ground on Thursday after monthly producer prices rose as expected, with investors awaiting Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments expected during the last hour of trading for clues on the outlook for interest rates.
The producer price index for final demand rose 0.2% on a monthly basis in October, in line with forecasts, though the annual rise of 2.4% was a touch higher than expectations.
Jobless claims dropped 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 217,000 for the week ended Nov. 9, lower than forecast.
"There's more and more evidence that inflation remains higher than the Fed's 2% target," said Melissa Brown, managing director for Investment Decision Research at SimCorp in New York. "The numbers were roughly in line with expectations but sometimes investors step back and say, 'What does this really mean?' It leads to more uncertainty about what the Fed does after the December meeting."
Changing inflation expectations have affected the bond market, with the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield , down on the day, but trading close to its highest level since July.
Traders now see a roughly 76% chance of a 25-basis point reduction at the Fed's December meeting, down from 82.5% on Wednesday, the CME FedWatch tool showed.
A post-U.S. election rally in equities appeared to be waning, even as focus turned to the potential inflationary pressures from policies under President-elect Donald Trump's administration.
As of 2:10 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 135.01 points, or 0.31%, to 43,823.18, the S&P 500 dropped 21.55 points, or 0.36%, to 5,963.83 and the Nasdaq Composite slid 74.55 points, or 0.39%, to 19,156.17.
Among the S&P 500's 11 major industry sectors, industrials was the biggest decliner, off 1.4% with the biggest drags from defense companies.
RTX Corp was the biggest drag on industrials, last down 4.5% at its lowest level since Sept. 19. General Dynamics (NYSE:GD ) was the next biggest weight, down 6.5% to its lowest level since Oct 31.
The blue-chip Dow had some support from a roughly 6% gain in Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS ) after the entertainment giant reported quarterly earnings that beat Wall Street's estimates and offered robust guidance for the coming years.
Consumer discretionary stocks also weighed on the S&P 500, falling more than 1% with some pressure from electric vehicle makers.
EV maker Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA ) declined 5.6% and Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN ) was off 12.3% after Reuters reported that Trump's transition team is planning to kill the $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric-vehicle purchases as part of broader tax-reform legislation.
Powell is due to provide an update on his economic outlook to business leaders in Dallas, a day after some Fed policymakers shifted their attention back to inflation risks as they weighed when, and how fast and far, to cut interest rates.
Fed Governor Adriana Kugler said the central bank has made considerable progress in working to achieve its job and inflation goals. Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin said high union wage settlements and the possibility of coming tariff increases could make Fed officials more cautious about thinking they have won their battle against high inflation.
Tapestry (NYSE:TPR ) hit its highest level since 2013, last trading up 12.6%. The Coach parent said it was terminating its $8.5 billion deal for Capri Holdings (NYSE:CPRI ) after the deal was blocked by a U.S. judge. Capri's shares rose 5% after reversing losses.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.45-to-1 ratio on the NYSE where there were 152 new highs and 75 new lows.
On the Nasdaq, 1,477 stocks rose and 2,734 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.85-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 25 new 52-week highs and 10 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 74 new highs and 155 new lows.
Source: Investing.com
