The KUIK Morning Market Report for Wednesday, March 15:
Markets are up.
Index
Direction
Change
Units
Time
Dow
Up
51
points
20,887
7:12 AM
S&P500
Up
0.3%
percent
2,372
Nasdaq Composite
Up
0.1%
percent
5,862
30 Year Treasury
Down
(2)
Basis Points
3.15
Annual Yield
The Commerce Department reports sales at retailers rose 0.1% in February, slowing after big gains in January and December. That met expectations. Sales were 3.7% higher in the first two months of 2017 vs. the same period a year ago. Sales fell 0.2% at auto dealers and down 0.6 at gas stations. Higher sales at home-and-garden centers, internet retailers, and health and beauty stores offset declines at department, electronics outlets, sporting goods stores.
Wall Street is cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s rate announcement. It will probably include the third rate hike in 10 years. It’s also watching the Dutch election. Populist conservative candidate Geert Wilders who is known as the “Dutch Trump” leads the Party for Freedom which is trying to take the largest number of seats in the general election. Wilders has endorsed the idea of the Netherlands leaving the European Union.
The Department of Labor just announced the Consumer Price Index rose 0.1% in February and that met expectations. That was the smallest increase since last sumer, but it is up 2.7% over the past year, hitting the highest annual rate since 2012.
Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for 1360 KUIK.
