- Indexes closed lower on Thursday after wholesale inflation data was slightly hotter than expected.
- Producer prices rose 0.4% in November, higher than consensus estimates of 0.2%.
- Declines in Nvidia and Adobe stock weighed on the Nasdaq, while bond yields rose.
Indexes closed lower on Thursday, dragged by tech stocks after the latest inflation report came in warmer than expected.
Nvidia shares lost more than 1%, while Adobe stock fell almost 14% on a worse-than-expected revenue outlook. Tesla shares dropped 1.5% and climbing to record highs in the previous session. Google-parent Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon also ended lower.
The Nasdaq retreated from its record above 20,000 set on Wednesday, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 230 points.
Here’s where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. closing bell on Thursday:
- S&P 500: 6,051.25, down 0.54%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 43,914.12, down 0.53% (-234.44 points)
- Nasdaq composite: 19,902.84, down 0.66%
The drop on Thursday comes as bond yields edged up after the latest producer price index report. The 10-year Treasury bond jumped six basis points to 4.332%.
PPI showed wholesale prices rose 0.4% last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday. The data came in higher than consensus estimates of 0.2%. On an annual basis, wholesale inflation came in at 3%.
Core PPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose in line with economists’ expectations, rising 0.2%.
The report marks the latest warm inflation reading after the release of the consumer price index on Wednesday, which showed consumer prices rose 2.7% year-over-year in November. That’s slightly higher than October’s 2.6% rise.
While the latest inflation updates showed price growth re-accelerating slightly, it wasn’t enough to derail expectations for a rate cut at next week’s Federal Reserve meeting. Investors see another cut as basically a given, though the outlook for further easing becomes less clear in January and beyond. If inflation stays hot, it could prevent the Fed’s ability to continue its easing cycle.
Jobless claims on Thursday showed 242,000 people applied for unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department said on Thursday. That number comes in above forecasts of 220,000 and marks the highest level since early October.
Here’s what else is happening:
- Donald Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.
- One of Wall Street’s biggest bulls sees the S&P 500 soaring 16% early next year before a sharp sell-off in the 2nd half
- There’s one final way Biden can fund Ukraine’s fight against Russia, researchers say
- Sustainability-linked bond sales have tanked amid a shift in ESG sentiment
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- West Texas Intermediate crude oil dipped to $70.50 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was nearly flat at $73.52 a barrel.
- Gold fell almost 2% to $2,704.50.
- The 10-year Treasury yield was up six basis points to 4.332%.
- Bitcoin was dipped 1.27% to $99,760.