The Producer Price Index showed prices at the wholesale level fell 0.5% month-over-month in June, after decreasing 0.3% in May. The average economist forecast called for prices to fall by 0.1%. The core rate, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.1%, matching the forecast. On a year-over-year basis, headline producer prices were 2.8% higher, and the core rate was up 1.1%.
The June reading of industrial production rose 0.1%, above the 0.1% decline expected after advancing 1.3% in May. However,there was a disappointing 0.4% decline in manufacturing, the worst month since June 2009, and even excluding the auto sector, output fell 0.3%.
Capacity utilization at 74.1% was unchanged relative to the downwardly revised figure for May. Utilization remains 6.5% below its average from 1972 to 2009.
The Empire Manufacturing Index, a measure of manufacturing in the New York region, fell in July to a level of 5.08. This was well below the estimates of economists which expected a decrease to 18.00, from the previous month’s level of 19.57.
The Philly Fed Manufacturing Index fell from 8.0 in June to 5.0 in July, compared to the forecast for slight increase to 10.0. The report depicts business activity in the mid-Atlantic region and a reading of zero is the demarcation point between expansion and contraction.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7 points (0.1%) to close at 10,359, the S&P 500 Index was 1 point higher at 1,096, and the Nasdaq Composite was flat at 2,249. Crude oil fell $0.28 to $76.76 per barrel, while the Bloomberg gold spot price increased $0.85 to $1,209.15 per ounce.
Magnificent Seven Update
