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U.S. weekly jobless claims increase
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Producer prices unexpectedly fall in March
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Harley-Davidson slips after CFO steps down
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Indexes up: Dow 0.05%, S&P 0.34%, Nasdaq 0.89%
(Updates to market open)
By Sruthi Shankar and Ankika Biswas
April 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes rose on Thursday
as a moderation in producer price inflation and jump in weekly
jobless claims brought relief to investors worried about how far
the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates to tame surging
prices.
A Labor Department report showed producer prices
unexpectedly fell in March as the cost of gasoline declined, and
there were signs that underlying producer inflation was
subsiding.
Data also showed that the number of Americans filing new
claims for unemployment benefits increased more than expected
last week, a further sign that labor market conditions were
loosening up.
"This is a good indication that inflation is easing and
dropping rather sharply. Jobless claims were also favorable news
for the Fed," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at
Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
"Inflation both at the consumer and producer levels are
going south, in the right direction ... even though elevated,
it's still good news and this is one big consideration in terms
of the Fed ending its tightening cycle."
The benchmark S&P 500 has traded in a tight range
this month, having recovered from a selloff in March fueled by
the recent banking crisis, as investors assessed the path for
U.S. interest rates.
Wall Street closed lower on Wednesday after data showed
consumer prices rose at a slower-than-expected pace in March,
however, core prices remained sticky and supported the case for
another 25-basis point rate hike by the Fed in May.
Investors mostly stuck to expectations of the 25-bps hike
after Thursday's data.
U.S. Treasury yields fell, boosting rate-sensitive growth
stocks. Apple Inc , Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet
Inc rose nearly 2%.
Economy-sensitive industrial , financial and energy sectors gave up some of their recent gains.
Minutes released on Wednesday from the Fed's latest policy
meeting indicated concerns of a recession following the banking
sector stress and that several policymakers considered pausing
rate hikes last month.
Big U.S. banks JPMorgan Chase & Co , Citigroup Inc and Wells Fargo & Co are scheduled to report
quarterly results on Friday, and investors will watch them
closely for details about the sector's overall health.
Analysts expect S&P 500 companies to record a profit decline
of 5.2% in the first quarter, as per Refinitiv IBES data, in
what could be their worst showing since the third quarter of
2020.
Financial companies that are part of the S&P 500 are
expected to report a profit growth of 4.3% in the first quarter.
At 9:43 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was
up 18.09 points, or 0.05%, at 33,664.59, the S&P 500 was
up 13.74 points, or 0.34%, at 4,105.69, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 106.53 points, or 0.89%, at 12,035.87.
Harley-Davidson Inc dropped 3.1% after the
motorcycle maker said Chief Financial Officer Gina Goetter was
leaving the company at the end of April.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 2.00-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 2.22-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded three new 52-week highs and one new
low, while the Nasdaq recorded 29 new highs and 80 new lows.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru;
Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Shounak Dasgupta)
