Wall Street saw stocks slide lower last week, with the major benchmark indexes closing in the red. Trading was choppy throughout the holiday-shortened week as traders anticipated this week’s inflation data. The Russell 2000 fell the furthest, followed by the Nasdaq, the S&P 500, the Global Dow, and the Dow. Crude oil prices advanced for the second straight week and are on track for a second consecutive monthly gain as some OPEC+ including Russian extended supply cuts. As investors await this week’s Consumer Price Index, rising oil prices could push overall prices higher than expected. Last week, 10-year Treasury yields rose as did the dollar, while gold prices declined.
Last Week’s Economic News
- The international trade in goods and services deficit was $65.0 billion in July, up from the previous month.
- Growth in the services sector slowed in August, according to the latest purchasing managers’ index from S&P Global.
- The national average retail price for regular gasoline was $3.807 per gallon on September 4.
- For the week ended September 2, there were 216,000 new claims for unemployment insurance, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week’s level.
Eye on the Week Ahead
The latest reports on the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index are out this week. Consumer prices edged up 0.2% in July and 3.2% for the 12 months ended in July. Producer prices rose 0.3% in July and 0.8% for the year.
Have a nice week!
Sincerely,
Robert G. Carpenter