Stock Market Update

The S&P 500 futures are down two points and are trading 0.1% below fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are down 57 points and are trading 0.2% below fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 15 points and are trading 0.1% below fair value.

The Producer Price Index for final demand was unchanged month-over-month in September (Briefing.com consensus 0.1%). The Producer Price Index for final demand, excluding food and energy, was up 0.2% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%).

The Producer Price Index for final demand rose 1.8% year-over-year, a smidgen below the upwardly revised 1.9% increase (from 1.7%) seen in August, but above the 1.6% increase expected for September. The Producer Price Index for final demand, excluding food and energy, increased 2.8% year-over-year. That was above the upwardly revised 2.6% (from 2.4%) for August and the 2.7% increase expected for September.

The key takeaway from the report is that producers are still tangling with elevated prices, excluding food and energy, which means the Fed is still going to have to tangle with inflation data that will make it harder at this stage to justify aggressive rate cuts.