The KUIK Morning Market Report for Thursday, January 12:
Markets are down.
Index
Direction
Change
Units
Time
Dow
Down
(171)
points
19,783
7:14 AM
S&P500
Down
-0.7%
percent
2,259
Nasdaq Composite
Down
-1.0%
percent
5,509
30 Year Treasury
Down
(4)
Basis Points
2.92
Annual Yield
The Labor Departmet reports the cost of imported goods in December rose 0.4%, mostly because of higher oil prices. November was revised upward to a 0.2% drop. Import prices are up 1.8% for all of 2016. That is the largest 12-month increase since the spring of 2012 and ends almost 2½ years of deflating import prices. Most of the weakness, and now the uptrend, in import prices is tied to the cost of oil. Oil prices have reversed their two-year slide and are now higher compared to a year ago. Import prices minus oil fell 0.2% in December and they are down slightly in the past year.A strong dollar makes imported goods cheaper for American consumers .
PC sales are down. Two reports from market research firms IDC and Gartnerout yesterday showed improvement in fourth-quarter PC sales compared with 2015. But last year was the fifth consecutive annual drop in worldwide PC unit sales, according to Gartner, with 2016 sales down 6.2%. It said the market is still being affected by smartphones and their impact on the life cycle of PCs.
Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for 1360 KUIK.
