| The KUIK Market Update for Friday, July 31: | |||||||
| Markets are up. | |||||||
| Index | Direction | Change | Units | Time | Change | ||
| Dow | Up | 4 | points | 17,750 | 8:04 AM | ||
| S&P500 | Up | 0.2% | percent | 2,112 | 3.18 | ||
| Nasdaq Composite | Up | 0.4% | percent | 5,149 | 20.40 | ||
| 30 Year Treasury | Down | (5) | Basis Points | 2.90 | Annual Yield | ||
| The employment cost index which measures how much companies pay their employees in wages and benefits rose only 0.2% in the second quarter after a 0.7% increase in the first. That was an all-time low for the series going back to 1982 and below forecasts. Economists expected a 0.6% gain. It is up 2.0% on an annual basis, down from first-quarter’s 2.6% annual rate, for the slowest rise since the second quarter of 2014. That’s an indication that the labor market may not be as healthy as the low unemployment rate suggests which could lead the Federal Reserve to push back its first interest-rate increase in nearly a decade. | |||||||
| Consumer sentiment fell in July, pulling back from a five-month high hit in June on disappointment over the slow pace of economic growth, according to the University of Michigan. The final July reading fell to 93.1 from June’s final 96.1. | |||||||
| Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for 1360 KUIK. | |||||||
| http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-employment-cost-index-decelerates-sharply-in-second-quarter-2015-07-31 | |||||||
| http://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumers-sentiment-pulls-back-but-still-elevated-2015-07-31 | |||||||
| For today’s Market Update Report click to listen-> | |||||||