(As of 7:18 am PST)
Another data rich morning has investors struggling to
find direction. Jobless claims surged
last week with 32,000 new people filing for unemployment benefits, bringing the
jobless claims figure to a 6 week high.
Housing starts fell 16.5% in April, led by a big drop in apartment
building construction. Building permits,
a sign of future demand in housing, rose 14.3% however. Consumer prices fell for the second straight
month and the inflation rate for the past 12 months fell to 1.1% in April from
1.5% in March. Little evidence exists of
inflationary pressure, which is good for the Fed’s interest rate policies and
for consumers. Markets were hovering
around the unchanged line, until the Philly Fed index was released showing a
negative reading in May. The Philly Fed
measures manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region. Any reading below 0 indicates more companies
are contracting than growing. After
notching its highest closing level since 2008 yesterday, Europe’s key benchmark
index moved lower Thursday. Asian
markets ended the day mostly higher, while Japan’s Nikkei finished lower
despite positive economic data. Gold
continued its tumble from yesterday, down 1% as the dollar strengthened. Interest rates took a dive with the 10 yr.
treasury rate dropping to 1.88%.
Economic reports have generally been disappointing this week, but that
hasn’t deterred investors from taking these markets to new heights.
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