Consumer confidence drops in March; consumer prices rise in Feb.
By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks tallied very slight gains Friday as Wall Street considered a mixed bag of economic data that included a first read of consumer confidence falling unexpectedly in March.
“On balance, the data was mildly disappointing, but it’s important not to read too much into one number. There was nothing too concerning considering the strong data we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks,” said Brad Sorensen, director of market and sector analysis at the Schwab Center for Financial Research.
Extending a winning run into an eighth session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA -0.03% climbed 4.08 points to 13,256.84.
The S&P 500 SPX +0.07% gained 1.32 point to 1,403.92, with energy leading sector gains among its 10 major industry groups.
The Nasdaq Composite COMP -0.02% added a fraction to 3,056.41.
Shares of Apple Inc. AAPL +0.21% wavered between gains and losses as the technology giant’s third-generation iPad went on sale Friday.
Decliners ran just ahead of advancers on the New York Stock Exchange, where nearly 626 million shares traded as of 11:20 a.m. Eastern.
Crude prices rose, with oil futures for April delivery CLJ2 +0.44% rising 64 cents to $105.75 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
“We can of course point our finger directly at gasoline prices, which are up another seven cents week over week,” said Miller Tabak equity strategist Peter Boockvar, referring to the University of Michigan/Thomson Reuters sentiment gauge. The index’s preliminary reading for March had confidence dipping to 74.3 in March, its first decline since August.
But, “energy costs for the consumer are not what it would seem with the increase in gas prices,” said Sorensen, who adds that the rise in prices at the pump has been offset by the sharp drop in the cost of natural gas. Read more about natural-gas prices.
Americans also spent less heating their homes during the mild winter, and are already driving less to reduce the money spent filling their tanks, Sorensen noted.
Ahead of the opening bell, the Labor Department reported consumer prices rose less than expected last month, rising 0.4% versus expectations of a 0.5% increase. Core prices that remove volatile food and energy costs rose 0.1% versus expectations of a 0.2% uptick.
“The CPI is for many, the all-important measure of consumer prices throughout the economy and when viewed that way, the less-than-expected gain in core prices will be a welcome development,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG LLC.
Other economic reports Friday had the Federal Reserve reporting the output of U.S. factories, mines and utilities held flat in February, while January production was revised to a 0.4% increase from an initial estimate of unchanged. Read how details strong than headline.
