Friday, August 12, 2016

To begin the last day of the trading week — following an exemplary day in the markets Thursday, where the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 all hit new highs — we see new data on Retail Sales and the Producer Price Index (PPI). Unfortunately, these numbers do not look overly encouraging.

Retail Sales for July were unchanged, following a revised June read of +0.8%. Stripping out auto sales, this figure drops to -0.3%; in June this was +0.9%. Vehicle and furniture sales were up, whereas grocery stores and gas stations were down. July’s PPI went to -0.4% after a June read of +0.5%. Core PPI — ex-food and energy costs — was -0.3%, and this was +0.4% in June.

Basically, these numbers are weaker than expected, and point to less upward inflation pressure than anticipated. Faltering oil prices in the month may have played a part, and we know how energy costs affect just about every other industry, but ultimately these are modestly disappointing reads.

Futures on the major indexes that posted such strong numbers are down slightly in today’s pre-market. WTI and Brent oil price indexes are down a bit as well following a stronger Thursday.

As Q2 earnings season continues to wind down, JCPenney beat bottom-line estimates but still reported a loss of 5 cents per share on revenues slightly below expectations. Nordstrom (JWN Quick QuoteJWN - Free Report) beats on both top and bottom lines this morning and the stock is up 9%, as did Planet Fitness (PLNT Quick QuotePLNT - Free Report) , but Dillard’s (DDS Quick QuoteDDS - Free Report) reported same-store sales below estimates, and its stock is down 5% ahead of the bell.

Mark Vickery
Senior Editor