Dow strikes record high as broader market weakens

Another record high as the Dow shot up another 45 points though there was mixed news on the inflation front that brought the S&P down a peg.  Inflation is higher than expected which increases the odds of a December rate hike to 50 percent today.  Investors wonder whether next week’s Fed meeting will point to this as a concern or not.  Crude is also up today.  For the year, the Dow is up 12 percent, the S&P 11, and today’s volume of 6 billion shares is just slightly above the 4-week average.

thu  SEPTEMBER 14, 2017 / 4:42 pM

Dow strikes record high as broader market weakens

Reuters Staff

DJ: 22,203.48  +45.30     NAS: 6,429.08  -31.10       S&P: 2,495.62  -2.75       9/14

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rising shares of Boeing pulled the Dow Jones Industrial Average up to a record high on Thursday, while the S&P 500 fell as investors saw higher-than-expected inflation increasing the chances of an interest rate hike.  The Dow’s third consecutive all-time high was driven in part by Boeing BA.N, which rose 1.36 percent after Deutsche Bank raised its price target on the aerospace and defense stock.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq moved lower after a Labor Department report showed consumer prices rose more than expected in August, boosting the odds of another interest rate hike this year.  The consumer price index’s (CPI) 0.4-percent gain last month was its biggest in seven months and is the last major economic data to be released ahead of the Federal Reserve’s Sept. 19-20 policy meeting.

“I don’t think the market was expecting that kind of a strength in terms of inflation,” said Victor Jones, director of trading at TD Ameritrade.  “What people want is know is whether or not Yellen is going to talk about the lack of inflation as transitory, or whether it is continuing to concern them.”  After the data, the odds of a hike in December rose above 50 percent for the first time since July, from 41.3 percent, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

The Dow .DJI rose 0.2 percent (+45.30) to end at 22,203.48 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.11 percent (-2.75) to 2,495.62.  The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 0.48 percent (-31.10) to 6,429.08, hurt by a 0.86-percent decline in Apple AAPL.O.  Six of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors rose, led by a 0.88 percent increase in utilities .SPLRCU.

The energy index .SPNY climbed 0.39 percent after U.S. crude CLc1 hit $50 per barrel for the first time since Aug. 10 on a bullish demand forecast by the International Energy Agency. (Full Story)

Helped by strong corporate earnings reports and optimism that President Donald Trump will cut business taxes, the Dow has gained 12 percent this year.  The S&P 500, up 11 percent in 2017, is trading at 17.6 times expected earnings, expensive compared with its 10-year average of 14.3, according to Thomson Reuters Datastream.

“I‘m not taking money out of stocks, but when new cash comes in, I‘m adding to our fixed income, whether that’s preferred shares, corporate bonds or mortgage-backed securities,” said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa.

The consumer discretionary index .SPLRCD fell 0.54 percent, pulled down by a 0.74-percent decline in Amazon.com AMZN.O and a 0.93-percent dip in Walt Disney DIS.N.

Equifax EFX.N fell 2.35 percent after the Federal Trade Commission opened a probe into the company’s massive data breach. (Full Story)

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.09-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.20-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

About 6.0 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, above the 5.8 billion 20-day average.