In July, U.S. retail sales rebounded strongly with a 1.0% month-on-month increase, surpassing the 0.4% expectations and recovering from a 0.2% decline in June. Core retail sales, which exclude autos, rose by 0.4%, also beating the 0.1% estimates, though slightly lower than the revised 0.5% increase from June.
In addition, the Import Price Index saw a modest rise of 0.1% month-on-month in July, while the Export Price Index increased by 0.7%. Both indexes performed better than expected, with import prices expected to decline by 0.1% and export prices anticipated to remain flat.
In the labor market, initial claims for unemployment benefits fell to 227,000 last week, below the 236,000 expectations and down from 234,000 the previous week. Continuing jobless claims also decreased to 1,864,000, better than both the 1,880,000 estimates and the 1,871,000 figure from the week before.
In July, U.S. inflation increased at a slower pace than expected. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 2.9% annually, down slightly from 3.0% in June and below forecasts. On a monthly basis, the CPI increased by 0.2%, recovering from a 0.1% decline in the previous month, in line with expectations.
When excluding volatile food and energy prices, the "core CPI" rose by 3.2% over the year, just below the projected 3.3%. On a monthly basis, core inflation also saw a modest increase of 0.2%, up from 0.1% in June. These figures suggest that inflationary pressures in the U.S. are easing slightly but remain persistent.
According to the Labor Department, the US Producer Price Index (PPI) increased by 2.2% annually in July, down from a revised 2.7% in June. On a monthly basis, the PPI rose by just 0.1%, falling short of expectations and the 0.2% growth recorded in June.
Excluding volatile food and fuel prices, the "core" PPI remained flat in July, bringing the annualized pace down to 2.4%.
This slowdown in producer inflation, ahead of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) release, could support bullish sentiment in the US stock market.
Donald Trump wrote on social media that he would give a ‘big interview with Elon Musk’ on the night of Monday, August 12. He did not provide any other details. “MAJOR INTERVIEW”
US jobless claims were reported at 233,000 last week, below the expected 241,000.
For the week ended August 3, initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell by 17,000 to a seasonally adjusted 233,000, below the 241,000 expected by economists.
Continuing claims, which represent the number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, rose by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.875 million.
After weaker-than-expected nonfarm payroll (NFP) numbers, the decrease in applications for unemployment benefits adds to the uncertainty over conditions in the labor market.
The $132.06B market cap Uber Tech reported quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.47, beating estimates. The company's total revenue of $10.7 also was bette than the market forecasts.
The $159.58B market cap Caterpillar reported quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $5.99, beating estimates. However, the company's total revenue of $16.7B missed the market forecasts.
American tech giant Google broke the law by establishing a monopoly on online searches, a federal judge has ruled.
The decision is seen as a major victory for US antitrust authorities, who have filed several lawsuits against big tech firms in a bid to strengthen competition in the industry, Reuters noted.
The case, initiated by the US Department of Justice in 2020, argued that Google has maintained its dominance of the search market by creating barriers to entry for other providers.
Kamala Harris is supported by 99% of the delegates of the Democratic Party; she has now officially become the US presidential candidate from her party.
According to S&P Global data, the service PMI fell to 55.0 in July from 55.3 in June. Market participants had expected a rise to 56.0.
According to S&P Global data, the composite PMI fell to 54.3 in July from 54.8 in June. Market participants had expected it to rise to 55.0.
Based on data from the ISM Institute, the non-manufacturing PMI fell to 51.4 in July from 48.8 in June. This release was in line with market expectations.
According to ISM data, the non-manufacturing employment index rose to 51.1 in July from 46.1 in June, surpassing analysts' expectations of a rise to 46.4.
The ISM non-manufacturing price index increased to 57.0 in July from 56.3 in June, which was also better than analysts' expectations of a rise to 56.0.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were only 114,000 hirings in July for nonfarm payrolls, while the market expected a number between 170K and 190K. With such a significant negative surprise, unemployment increased to 4.3% from 4.1% in June.
In addition, average hourly earnings increased by only 0.2% in July and by 3.6% over the past 12 months.
On top of that, according to data released earlier this week, U.S. job openings fell modestly in June, while new applications for unemployment benefits increased to an 11-month high last week.
Gateway Pundit - Senator Josh Hawley dropped a bombshell letter on Thursday revealing a whistleblower told him Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe ordered cuts in funding to agents, which ultimately had a hand in Trump almost being assassinated.
Rowe ordered several cuts to the protective agency. Not a single agent responsible for threat assessments was present in Pennsylvania to protect the former president, and some knew about these problems for months.