Day Traders Diary

9/14/23

The major averages are higher led by the Dow Jones Industrials for the first day in three after August retail sales came in better than expected and an inflation reading was better than feared.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped over 300 points or 1%. The S&P 500 rose 35 points or 0.85% while the Nasdaq Composite rose 115 points or 0.84%.  

The August reading of the producer price index came in hotter than expected. It rose 0.7%, more than the 0.4% increase anticipated by economists polled by Dow Jones. However, excluding food and energy, core PPI increased 0.2%, in line with the estimate.

August retail sales came in better than expected, jumping 0.6% against a 0.1% increase expected by economists. Excluding autos, retail sales rose 0.6% last month, more than the forecasted 0.4% increase.

The European Central Bank hiked rates by an expected quarter percentage point Thursday but noted inflation is easing and could be near the end of its rate-hiking campaign.

That follows the August reading of the consumer price index. The core CPI, which excludes food and energy, was slightly hotter than expected.

A quiet day on the corporate news front. Arm Holdings jumped 14% after the chip design company started trading Thursday. Investors hope the biggest tech offering of the year could kickstart a sleepy IPO market. Arm's initial public offering was priced at $51 a share Wednesday. It was last trading at about $58 a share.

Tech firm, Adobe is expected to post quarterly results after the market close Thursday.