US stocks slid on Thursday despite opening higher. A hotter-than-expected wholesale inflation print served as one of the last pieces of data that could sway the Federal Reserve at its policy meeting next week.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell below the flatline, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) wavered around the flatline. Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) and Tesla (TSLA) declined on Thursday following a slide in the prior session.
February’s Producer Price Index rose 0.6%, higher than an expected increase of 0.3%. Investors were watching whether inflation is cooling fast enough to satisfy Fed policymakers and herald interest rate cuts. That said, the market shrugged off signs of sticky inflation in Tuesday’s CPI report and stuck to their hopes for a policy pivot come summer.
Meanwhile retail sales increased 0.6%, coming in short of estimates for a rise of 0.8%. Eyes were closely watching Thursday’s data release for clues on the health of the US economy ahead of the central bank’s two-day meeting next week.
In commodities, oil’s revived rally continued to build after the IEA warned that supply would lag this year and US stockpiles shrank. WTI crude futures (CL=F) traded just above $81 per barrel and touched their highest levels since November, while Brent crude futures (BZ=F) pushed above $85.
On the corporate front, Fisker’s (FSR) shares plunged more than 40% after a Wall Street Journal report that the EV maker is exploring a bankruptcy filing.
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