Symbolic imageUS producer prices flat as S&P 500 closes at record
US producer prices were unchanged in July, and the S&P 500 closed at a record on Thursday. Treasury yields fell as traders pared bets on a Federal Reserve rate rise.
The Wall Street Journal reported the producer-price index flat for July, a day after consumer-price data put annual inflation at 3.4 percent and core prices 2.5 percent higher. Futures edged up before the open on the subdued reading, and US stocks closed higher, with the paper tying the record to relief over cooling inflation. The same outlet reported that jobless claims rose again last week, a labour-market signal that landed on the same day.
Rate-hike bets recede
Gold gained as expectations of a Federal Reserve rate rise receded, the Wall Street Journal reported, and the dollar weakened as oil prices eased.
Bond market pulls the other way
Against that, the Wall Street Journal's opinion page argued that bond investors want the Fed to raise rates, which it presents as unease among buyers of US debt. That position is commentary, not the paper's news reporting.
Other opinions
All of the day's available coverage comes from the Wall Street Journal, and only as short headline summaries; no outlets from Europe, China or Russia are represented, so how other power blocs framed the US data cannot be assessed.