VIEW Dec CPI rises a touch above expectations, keeps Fed on track
January 15, 2025
Linea Mercati Interview 1/15/25
January 16, 2025Washington (AFP) – The New York Stock Exchange closed mixed on Tuesday, as investors digested the US producer price index before turning their attention to the publication of consumer prices on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones advanced 0.52%, the Nasdaq index lost 0.23% and the broader S&P 500 index gained 0.11%.
“The market is in a waiting position,” Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital Securities told AFP.
At the start of the session, investors rather welcomed the US producer price index (PPI), which measures inflation on the producer side: they rose 0.2% in December, compared to 0.4% in November.
This slowdown was not expected by analysts, who were instead counting on an increase of 0.4%, according to the consensus published by MarketWatch.
“Now the market is preparing for the publication of the consumer price index (CPI) on Wednesday and, of course, the start of corporate earnings season with the big banks” such as JPMorgan, Wells Fargo or Citigroup, explains Mr. Cardillo.
On Tuesday, investors also digested press reports that Donald Trump’s economic team would consider gradually increasing customs duties month after month, as a negotiating lever, which could limit their inflationary impact.
In this context, “the Russell 2000 (which brings together 2,000 SMEs, editor’s note) could probably continue to outperform, because many stocks are domestic and therefore would not be affected by a significant increase in customs duties”, underlines Peter Cardillo.
At the close in New York, the index of small and medium-sized enterprises climbed by 1.13%.
On the stock market, Chinese companies listed in New York stood out, driven by the prospect of only a gradual increase in customs duties, including Alibaba (+1.42%) and its competitors in the e-commerce sector, PDD (+2.24%) and JD.com (+4.04%).
The Eli Lilly laboratory, the main competitor of the Danish giant Novo Nordisk in the anti-obesity treatment market, fell by 6.59%, after having announced that it “expects” a turnover of around 45 billion dollars in 2024, up 32% compared to the previous year, but below the forecasts made in the fall.
The American department store chain Macy’s was still in the red (-3.71%), after having fallen by more than 8% the day before. The group announced on Monday that its turnover in the fourth quarter would be at the lower end of its target range of between 7.8 and 8 billion dollars, or even “slightly lower”.
