U.S. Stocks Rise for Second Consecutive Day as PPI Falls Below Expectations

The three major U.S. stock indices rose for the second consecutive day, finding relief in successive signals of cooling inflation.

The Nasdaq climbed 0.6%, while the Dow and the S&P 500 closed with slight gains.

The communication services sector rose by 2%, and the consumer discretionary sector gained 1%, leading the indices higher.

Following the Consumer Price Index (CPI) released the previous day, the U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) for June also fell significantly more than market expectations, causing the outlook for further interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve to lose momentum rapidly.

The June PPI fell 0.3% from the previous month, marking its first decline in 10 months.

This decline in wholesale prices is interpreted as a signal that, with a time lag, it will further pull down consumer prices.

As John Williams, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, positively assessed the possibility of price stability, the Beige Book, a report on current economic conditions released by the Federal Reserve, also diagnosed that the U.S. economy is maintaining a moderate growth trend and price stability, adding to the sense of relief.

Among major stocks, large-cap tech shares led the market gains.

In particular, Apple hit an all-time high on news of approval for the launch of its generative artificial intelligence features in China, and Alphabet also rose by more than 3%.

Dutch semiconductor equipment company ASML rose 2% after reporting earnings that beat market expectations and raising its annual revenue forecast.

On the other hand, Micron Technology, a leading memory semiconductor stock, weakened by 8% amid caution ahead of the earnings release from Taiwan's TSMC.

The second-quarter earnings report for Taiwan's TSMC, which will serve as a bellwether for the global AI semiconductor market, is scheduled to be released at 3:00 PM today (July 16) Korea Standard Time.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.