The second full week of September saw a slew of important news releases. On Thursday, PPI came in at 0.4 percent, which was in line with expectations. Core PPI came in at 0.2 percent, which was below expectations of a gain of 0.3 percent. Overall PPI was revised upward to a gain of 0.1 percent in July while Core PPI was revised upward to a gain of 0.3 percent in July.
Unemployment claims data also came out on Thursday, and it revealed that 206,000 people applied for benefits over the previous seven days. This is almost identical to last week’s report as well as nearly identical to analyst expectations prior to the release.
On Friday, CPI data came in almost exactly as analysts had predicted prior to the release. Core PPI was up 0.3 percent on a monthly basis, which was slightly above the projected gain of 0.2 percent. Core PPI came in at 2.4 percent on a yearly basis while overall CPI came in at 3.4 percent on a yearly basis. On a monthly basis, overall PPI came in at 0.4 percent.
Finally, the University of Michigan released its consumer sentiment and inflation expectation reports. Consumer sentiment was 47.8 compared to an expected 51 while inflation is expected to be at 4.6 percent in 12 months.
Despite a positive close on Friday, the S&P finished the week down 1.02 percent over the last five trading days. It closed at 7,656 at the end of Friday. Over the last month, it is down 1.32 percent and is up just over 18 percent over the last year. For the week, the index made a high of 7,696 on Tuesday and a low of 7,580 on Thursday.
The Dow lost 1.78 percent over the last five trading days to close at 52,573 at the end of the day Friday. Over the last month, the index is down 2.5 percent but is up 15.8 percent over the last year. This week, it made a high of 52,848 on Tuesday and a low of 52,023 on Thursday.
Finally, the Nasdaq lost 0.86 percent over the last five trading days to finish at 26,333 at the end of trading Friday. The tech-heavy index is down 1.27 percent over the last month but has gained over 21 percent over the past year. This week, the index made a high of 26,400 on Tuesday morning and a low of 26,015 on Thursday morning.
In international news, the Eurozone reported on Monday that its gross domestic product (GDP) was up 0.6 percent in the most recent quarter. On Thursday, the same region decided to increase its main interest rate from 2.4 percent to 2.65 percent. The leader of the European Central Bank said more hikes may be necessary but it could result in economic instability.
Next week will be another interesting one as the Fed is set to meet Wednesday to make its September interest rate decision. Although a rate hike may be on the table, it won’t be a shock to see the status quo prevail. Retail sales data will also be released Wednesday. Those who keep tabs on foreign markets may want to stay tuned for the release of Canadian and British inflation data as well as a rate decision from the Bank of Japan on Thursday.