16 Aug 2023 Market Close & Major Financial Headlines: Wall Street’s Major Indexes Trended Down After The Opening Bell To close Sharply Down After Fed’s Negative Comments
Summary Of the Markets Today:
- The Dow closed down 181 points or 0.52%,
- Nasdaq closed down 1.15%,
- S&P 500 closed down 0.76%,
- Gold $1,923 down $12.20,
- WTI crude oil settled at $79 down $1.79,
- 10-year U.S. Treasury 4.270% up 0.047 points,
- USD Index $103.49 up $0.28,
- Bitcoin $29,100 down $55,
*Stock data, cryptocurrency, and commodity prices at the market closing.
Click here to read our Economic Forecast for August 2023
Today’s Economic Releases Compiled by Steven Hansen, Publisher:
In July 2023, total industrial production declined 0.2% year-over-year. Components manufacturing declined 0.7% year-over-year, mining was up 2.9% year-over-year, whilst utilities declined 0.9% year-over-year. Capacity utilization moved up to 79.3 percent in July, a rate that is 0.4 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2022) average. Overall, industrial production remains in a recession and is little changed over the last 5 months.
Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in July 2023 were 13.0% below July 2022. Housing starts were up 5.9% year-over-year. Housing completions were down 11.8 % year-over-year. It appears new housing is beginning to break out of its recession.
Today, the Federal Reserve released the minutes for the FOMC meeting which ended on 26 July 2023. Interesting statements in the minutes:
… tighter credit conditions for households and businesses were likely to weigh on economic activity, hiring, and inflation. However, participants agreed that the extent of these effects remained uncertain. Against this background, the Committee remained highly attentive to inflation risks.
… Participants commented that monetary policy tightening appeared to be working broadly as intended and that a continued gradual slowing in real GDP growth would help reduce demand–supply imbalances in the economy. Participants assessed that the ongoing tightening of credit conditions in the banking sector, as evidenced in the most recent surveys of banks, also would likely weigh on economic activity in coming quarters.
… Participants judged that, over coming quarters, firms would reduce the pace of their investment spending and hiring in response to tight financial conditions and the slowing of economic activity.
… They noted evidence that labor demand was easing—including declines in job openings, lower quits rates, more part-time work, slower growth in hours worked, higher unemployment insurance claims, and more moderate rates of nominal wage growth. In addition, they remarked on indications of increasing labor supply, including a further rise in the prime-age participation rate to a post-pandemic high.
… Participants cited a number of tentative signs that inflation pressures could be abating. These signs included some softening in core goods prices, lower online prices, evidence that firms were raising prices by smaller amounts than previously, slower increases in shelter prices, and recent declines in survey estimates of shorter-term inflation expectations and of inflation uncertainty.
… With inflation still well above the Committee’s longer-run goal and the labor market remaining tight, most participants continued to see significant upside risks to inflation, which could require further tightening of monetary policy. Some participants commented that even though economic activity had been resilient and the labor market had remained strong, there continued to be downside risks to economic activity and upside risks to the unemployment rate; these included the possibility that the macroeconomic effects of the tightening in financial conditions since the beginning of last year could prove more substantial than anticipated. A number of participants judged that, with the stance of monetary policy in restrictive territory, risks to the achievement of the Committee’s goals had become more two sided, and it was important that the Committee’s decisions balance the risk of an inadvertent overtightening of policy against the cost of an insufficient tightening.
Here is a summary of headlines we are reading today:
- U.S. Gas Prices Hit Year High As Market Tightens
- Energy Transfer LP To Acquire Crestwood Equity Partners In $7B Deal
- Lula Aide Signals It’s Okay For Petrobras To Pursue Amazon Drilling
- Tesla Reignites Price War With More Cuts In China
- Fed officials see ‘upside risks’ to inflation possibly leading to more rate hikes, minutes show
- Aldi to acquire Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores in Southern expansion
- Appeals court imposes restrictions on abortion pill, but drug will stay on the market for now
- Target Pride backlash adds to sales woes as culture wars rage in corporate America
- FOMC Minutes Signal Hawkish Fed Fears “Significant Upside Risks To Inflation”
- Inflation slows to 6.8% but flights and hotels keep prices high
- Movers & Shakers: Intel and Tower Semiconductor shares fall, Target’s stock gains, and more stocks on the move
- Bond Report: 10-year Treasury yield ends at 15-year high after Fed’s July minutes
Click on the “Read More” below to access these, other headlines, and the associated news summaries moving the markets today.
