As a general recap, the market advanced by a total number of climbing stocks, but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq finally pulled back from their all-time highs.
Shortly after the 4 pm EST close, the, $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ fell 0.88%, the $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ climbed 0.08%, and the $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ fell back 1.95%
In macroeconomics this week, investors watched comments from the Federal Reserve President Jerome Powell on Capitol Hill and CPI release Thursday.
CPI numbers showed a basket of consumer prices in the United States fell for a third straight month to 3.0% in June from 3.3% in May of 2024. Core consumer prices in the US increased by 3.3% in June of 2024 over the same month in the previous year, down from 3.4% in May. Consumer prices fell about 0.1% leading to hope that the Fed may lower interest rates.
PPI comes out Friday, expected at 0.2% core. Investors watched Powell speak in front of yet another Capitol Hill committee, where he said the Fed was waiting for a consensus before acting on interest rate changes, but they were ready to go.
Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said he would like more data supporting rate cuts, but the Fed keeps its options open.
"We know that reducing policy restraint too soon or too much could stall or even reverse the progress we have seen on inflation," Powell said. "In light of the progress made both in lowering inflation and in cooling the labor market over the past two years, elevated inflation is not the only risk we face."
Powell pointed to rising unemployment numbers over the past three months as an example of a cooling market. The unemployment rate most recently peaked at 4.1% in June, he said, while payrolls have shown an increase of 222,000 a month for the past six months. He attributed the job-to-workers gap fall to increased labor participation and strong immigration numbers.
He said that, compared to two years ago, the labor market had cooled significantly to just above where it sat in 2019 and that inflation was not the Fed's only concern.
He also said the Fed does not need inflation below 2% before cutting rates, just evidence inflation is on its way there.
"Reducing policy restraint too late or too little could unduly weaken economic activity and employment," Powell said.
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