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U.S. stocks cut losses late in the trading session on Aug. 14, but it wasn’t enough to completely reverse losses made earlier on a larger-than-expected jump in wholesale business prices.
In after-hours trading, Intel jumped after Bloomberg reported the Trump administration is consdering taking as much as a 8.9% stake in the chip company. UnitedHealth rallied on news of a Berkshire Hathaway stake.
The blue-chip Dow closed down 0.02%, or 11.01 points, to 44,911.26; the broad S&P 500 eked out a 0.03% gain, or 1.96 points, to 6,468.54 to score a another day of wins; and the tech-laden Nasdaq eased 0.01%, or 2.47 points, to 21,710.67. The benchmark 10-year yield rose to 4.289%.
Wholesale prices, or the cost of goods and services that businesses pay each other and measured by the producer price index, rose 0.9% in July from June, when it was unchanged. That was above the 0.2% economists polled by Dow Jones had expected and the largest monthly gain since June 2022. The jump was partly because of tariffs, economists said.
Businesses have either avoided tariffs by loading up on inventory before tariffs set in or have been eating most of the tariff cost, they said. However, as time drags on, many economists say businesses will eventually have to start passing on more of the tariff costs or watch their profit margins shrink. This could spike consumer price inflation, which have so far been contained, or hurt stock prices.
The morning’s data “suggests inflation isn’t the non-story some people thought it was,” said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley. “This doesn’t slam the door on a September rate cut, but based on the market’s initial reaction, the opening may be a little smaller than it was a couple of days ago.”
Nevertheless, the CME FedWatch tool that tracks the odds the market give for a rate move at each Federal Reserve policy meeting shows a 92.6% chance of a cut at the Fed’s next meeting in September. That’s down from 94.6% at the open bell but above the day’s low closer to 90%.
Stocks erased some of their gains made over the past three days after the July consumer price index showed inflation remained tame. The CPI report fueled speculation the Federal Reserve had room to cut interest rates in September to buoy the labor market, and both the broad S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed to record highs. Lower interest rates cut borrowing costs for consumers and businesses.
Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims unexpectedly fell, a better sign for the labor market after a shockingly weak July jobs report. July’s report not only showed weaker-than-expected new jobs in July but May and June numbers were also revised sharply lower.
Jobless claims fell to 224,000 in the latest week, down from 227,000 a week earlier and below The Wall Street Journal’s forecast for 229,000.
Continuing claims, or a measure of the size of the unemployed population, fell to 1.95 million, compared with 1.97 million a week earlier.
Is a rate cut still on the table?
San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly told the Wall Street Journal she could support a rate cut in September because inflation so far hasn’t spiked and the labor market has cooled but poured cold water on the idea of a half-point cut that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has suggested.
“Fifty sounds, to me, like we see an urgent − I’m worried it would send off an urgency signal that I don’t feel about the strength of the labor market,” Daly said in an interview. “I just don’t see that. I don’t see the need to catch up.”
St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem, a voting member on the policy committee, echoed this view. He said a half-point rate cut at the Fed’s September meeting is not warranted.
Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee says he’s still more concerned about inflation than a slowing jobs market, suggesting he may not be in at all for a September rate cut.
Separately, Marc Sumerlin, senior economist under former President George W. Bush, said he’s in the running to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell when his term expires in May. He supports a half-percentage point rate cut, in line with Bessent’s suggestion.
Corporate news
After the market closed, Intel shares extended late day gains by adding another 3.5% after Bloomberg said the Trump administation is discussing taking as much as an 8.9% stake in the chipmaker
Shares of UnitedHealth insurance company rallied nearly 8% after regulatory filings showed Berkshire Hathaway took a new stake in the company. Berkshire bought more than 5 million shares in the health care firm for a stake worth about $1.6 billion at the end of June.
During regular hours, movers included:
- Cisco barely topped estimates in the last three months of its fiscal year and offered guidance that again, barely beat forecasts. Shares dipped 1.38%.
- Ibotta missed second-quarter forecasts and issued weak third-quarter guidance. The stock dropped 30.28%.
- Coherent beat quarterly expectations and said it’s selling its aerospace and defense business to Advent for $400 million. Shares tumbled 19.68%.
- Tapestry’s full-year earnings per share outlook fell below analysts’ expectations. Shares plunged 15.71%.
- Deere narrowed its annual sales forecast by cutting the top end of the guidance range. Shares dropped 6.79%.
Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin prices slipped after climbing to a new record high above $124,000 as investors continued to pile in as digital assets become more mainstream.
Looser regulation and institutional interest has given digital assets a boost this year. The US GENIUS Act, which clears the way for mainstream adoption of stablecoins, and President Donald Trump has opened the door for crypto to be included in 401(k) plans.
Corporate treasuries also increasingly are exploring the integrating digital assets into their treasury management strategies.
However, Bessent said in a Fox Business interview the U.S. doesn’t plan to acquire more crypto assets for its bitcoin reserve. Instead, the U.S. will fill its coffers with confiscated digital assets instead of selling them.
He said the bitcoin reserve currently holds $15 billion to $20 billion in assets.
Bitcoin was last down 4.41% at $117,900.50.
This story was updated with new information.
Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday morning.