- US stocks closed mixed. The Dow is lower. NASDAQ indices lead the upside charge
- White House Press Secretary Leavitt will be departing her role at the end of the month.
- Crude oil futures settle at $83.27
- The US government deficit in July was the highest in any month since 2021
- Canadian consumers continued spending through another challenging quarter — RBC data
- US treasury sells 10 year notes at a high yield of 4.683%
- WARNING: There is a long way to go until the next Fed Meeting
- European stocks close lower as traders head for the exits
- Cleveland Fed median CPI +0.3% vs +0.2% prior
- EIA weekly US crude oil inventories +17.423K vs -1405K expected
- Gold tests the weekly high as the CPI report cools the rate hike talk
- Canada Building Permits for June 18.5% vs 0.8% estimate
- US July CPI 3.4% y/y vs 3.4% expected
- Kickstart video for August 12: US Dollar is lower ahead of key CPI report
- investingLive European markets wrap: Gold stays poised, dollar tentative awaiting US CPI report
The main catalyst for markets today was the July U.S. CPI report, which came in largely as expected while showing some further moderation in annual inflation. Headline CPI rose 0.1% month over month and 3.4% year over year, both matching expectations, with the annual rate easing from 3.5% in June. Core CPI increased 0.2% for the month and 2.5% year over year, also matching forecasts, with the annual core rate falling from 2.6% to its lowest level since February.
The details were somewhat mixed. Shelter costs remained firm, with both owners’ equivalent rent and primary rents rising 0.3%, while medical care and airfares also increased. On the softer side, energy prices fell 1.5% and gasoline dropped 2.9%, helping restrain headline inflation.
Overall, the report gave the Fed additional room to remain on hold in September, with the market-implied probability of a September rate hike slipping to around 39% from 44% before the release. However, there is still another round of inflation and employment data ahead of the September FOMC meeting, leaving plenty of time for the outlook to change.
Despite the as expected CPI and the tilt lower in the tightening bias, the U.S. dollar moved higher against all the major currencies in trading today, with the largest gain coming against the New Zealand dollar and the smallest gain versus the Australian dollar. The greenback also posted solid gains against the Swiss franc, Canadian dollar and Japanese yen. Looking at the major currency pairs vs the USD:
- EURUSD: 1.1522, down 0.16% — USD higher vs. EUR
- USDJPY: 159.46, up 0.12% — USD higher vs. JPY
- GBPUSD: 1.3492, down 0.09% — USD higher vs. GBP
- USDCHF: 0.8135, up 0.36% — USD higher vs. CHF
- USDCAD: 1.3941, up 0.13% — USD higher vs. CAD
- AUDUSD: 0.7059, down 0.01% — USD marginally higher vs. AUD
- NZDUSD: 0.5857, down 0.37% — USD higher vs. NZD
Overall, the gains were relatively modest, but broad-based, with the USD finishing higher across the major-currency board.
U.S. Treasury yields started the North American session lower across the curve and moved even lower following the CPI report, but those declines faded as the session progressed. By the end of the day, yields were mixed, with the front and intermediate parts of the curve still slightly lower while longer-term yields moved higher.
- 2-year: 4.203%, -1.5 bps
- 5-year: 4.380%, -0.5 bps
- 10-year: 4.688%, +0.4 bps
- 30-year: 5.254%, +1.9 bps
At the start of the North American session, the yield curve showed:
- 2-year: 4.193%, -2.5 bps
- 5-year: 4.361%, -2.5 bps
- 10-year: 4.662%, -2.2 bps
- 30-year: 5.218%, -1.7 bps
U.S. stocks finished mostly higher but mixed, with technology shares leading the gains following the July CPI report. The Nasdaq 100 was the strongest major index, while the Dow edged modestly lower. The Russell 2000 reached a new record closing high, helped by continued strength in smaller-cap shares.
- Dow Industrial Average: 53,775.39, -22.00 points or -0.04%
- S&P 500: 7,748.50, +20.29 points or +0.26%
- Nasdaq Composite: 26,588.49, +143.04 points or +0.54%
- Russell 2000: 3,045.49, +18.37 points or +0.61% — record close
- Nasdaq 100: 29,742.60, +217.13 points or +0.74%
The standout action was once again in AI and data-center-related shares. Nebius surged 34.14% after reporting Q2 revenue of $582.3 million, up 454% from a year ago, while AI cloud revenue jumped 514%. CoreWeave gained 19.28%, while Lumentum, Bloom Energy, Skyworks, Credo, Coherent and Arista Networks were also among the strong performers.
- Lumentum (LITE): $932.47, +13.63%
- Bloom Energy (BE): $237.16, +12.29%
- Skyworks Solutions (SWKS): $154.41, +9.01%
- Credo Technology (CRDO): $268.16, +8.26%
- Coherent (COHR): $355.64, +8.24%
- Arista Networks (ANET): $210.50, +6.39%
Crude oil prices today were relatively tame with a high extending to $84.35 and the low to $82.40. The current price is trading near the low at $82.80. That is down around $0.40 on the day.
In other markets:
- Gold is up 5 $36 or 0.82% at $4407.
- Silver is up $0.57 or 0.89% of $65.23.
- Bitcoin is trading down $200 and $63,500.
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.