Stock Market Update

Total PPI was unchanged month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%) following an upwardly revised 0.6% increase (from 0.4%) in January, and core PPI, which excludes food and energy, was down 0.1% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%) following an upwardly revised 0.5% increase (from 0.3%) in January.

On a year-over-year basis, total PPI was up 3.2%, versus 3.7% in January, and core PPI was up 3.4% versus 3.8% in January.

The key takeaway from the report is comparable to the key takeaway from the CPI report: inflation at the wholesale level, while improving, is still too high, and with the tariff battles heating up, there is concern that the disinflation isn't going to persist.

Initial jobless claims for the week ending March 8 decreased by 2,000 to 220,000 (Briefing.com consensus 228,000). Continuing jobless claims for the week ending March 1 decreased by 27,000 to 1.870 million.

The key takeaway from the report is that initial jobless claims -- a leading indicator -- held steady at relatively low levels that are consistent with an otherwise sound labor market.

The equity and Treasury market didn't react much to the data. The S&P 500 futures are down five points and are trading 0.1% below fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are down 58 points and are trading 0.3% below fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 44 points and are trading 0.1% below fair value.

The 10-yr yield is up two basis points to 4.34% and the 2-yr yield is up one basis point to 4.00%.