Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The broader market held its bottom-of-the-range lines following the release of the Fed's Beige Book, published at the bottom of the hour; the report found that most of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts reported little or no change in economic activity since the prior Beige Book period—the four Districts that differed reported modest growth. Contacts frequently cited economic uncertainty and tariffs as negative factors. Currently, the S&P 500 (+0.08%) is firmly in second place, up about 5 points.

• Among other notable points from the report, eleven Districts described little or no net change in overall employment levels, while one District described a modest decline. Half of the Districts described modest growth in wages, while most of the others reported moderate growth. Two Districts noted little or no change in wages.
• Ten Districts characterized price growth as moderate or modest. The other two Districts described strong input price growth that outpaced moderate or modest selling price growth. Nearly all Districts noted tariff-related price increases, with contacts from many Districts reporting that tariffs were especially impactful on the prices of inputs.
• Most Districts reported that their firms were expecting price increases to continue in the months ahead, with three of those Districts noting that the pace of price increases was expected to rise further.
• Overall, sentiment was mixed among the Districts. Most firms either reported little to no change in optimism or expressed differing expectations about the direction of change from their contacts.

Currently, the yield on the benchmark 10-yr treasury note is down about five basis points to 4.210%.