US stocks close flat on inflation data

US stocks traded flat on Tuesday, July 13, after the latest government data showed that inflation surged at an annual rate of 5.4% in June, the highest in 13 years, amid a strong economic rebound.

The S&P 500 was down 0.35% to 4,369.21. The Dow Jones dropped 0.31% to 34,888.79. The NASDAQ Composite fell 0.38% to 14,677.65, and the small-cap Russell 2000 shed 1.88% to 2,238.86.

The US Consumer Price Index (CPI), a key gauge for change in the prices of commodities and services, rose 0.9% in June from May on a seasonally adjusted basis, while increasing by 5.4% YoY, marking its highest climb YoY since August 2008. The Labor Department data also showed that core inflation jumped 4.5% from a year ago, the highest since November 1991, after rising 3.8% in May. 

Analysts said the rising prices of used cars and airline fares drove the inflation higher in June. However, they say the current inflation is temporary, supporting Fed chief Jerome Powell’s assertion on the issue.

The NASDAQ Composite and the S&P 500 had opened at an all-time high before settling lower. The technology stocks were among the top performers in Tuesday's session.

Three of the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 remained in the green zone. The consumer discretionary stocks led the session on the blue-chip index, lifted by robust earnings reports from some of the largest US banks like JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and the Goldman Sachs Group (GS).

JPMorgan's second-quarter profit more than doubled to US$11.95 billion, while Goldman Sachs' income swelled to US$5.49 billion from US$373 million in the same period a year ago.

However, the stocks declined in Friday's session. JPM fell 1.44%, while GS shares dropped 0.87%. Visa Inc. (V) and Mastercard Incorporated (MA) gained 1.43% and 2.21%, while Bank of America Corporation (BAC) and PayPal Holdings Inc. (PYPL) dropped 1.28% and 0.19%, respectively.

Airplane maker Boeing Co (BA) stock fell 3.53% after the reported delivery delay of its wide-bodied 787 Dreamliner jets due to flaws in the structure. The company said it would take at least three weeks to fix the issue.

PepsiCo Inc. said it will increase the prices of its products after releasing its second-quarter earnings report. The beverage company's overall net revenue surged 20.5% to US$19.22 billion, beating analysts' expectations. Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP) rose 2.33% on Tuesday.

In technology stocks, Apple Inc. (AAPL) increased by 0.86%, Microsoft Corp (MSFT) rose 1.23%, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (TS) gained 1.24%. NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) decreased 1.31%, while Adobe Inc. (ADBE) advanced 0.78%.

Nokia Corporation (NOK), SCWorx Corp. (WORX), and Exela Technologies, Inc. (XELA) gained 9.78%, 14.66%, and 30.98%, respectively. Chinese stocks DiDi Global Inc. (DIDI) rose 7.21%, Alibaba Group (BABA) rose 2.30%, while Baidu, Inc. (BIDU) advanced 2.65%.

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Top Gainers

Top performers on S&P 500 included Teledyne Technologies Inc (2.42%), PepsiCo Inc (2.31%), Mastercard Inc (2.17%), Visa Inc (1.88%). On NASDAQ, top performers were Allied Healthcare Products Inc (128.79%), Red Cat Holdings Inc (60.27%), Orbsat Corp (40.33%), Sohu.com Ltd (27.58%). On Dow Jones, Visa Inc (1.88%), Microsoft Corp (1.32%), Coca-Cola Co (0.99%), Apple Inc (0.79%) were the leaders.

Top Losers

Top laggards on S&P 500 included Conagra Brands Inc (-5.43%), Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (-4.91%), Franklin Resources Inc (-4.89%), Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (-4.36%). On NASDAQ, SGOCO Group Ltd (-52.05%), Mediaco Holding Inc (-51.18%), Transcode Therapeutics Inc (-29.30%), Pop Culture Group Co Ltd (-26.31%). On Dow Jones, Boeing Co (-4.23%), Caterpillar Inc (-1.55%), JPMorgan Chase & Co (-1.49%), Home Depot Inc (-1.46%) were the laggards.

Volume Movers

Top volume movers were Apple Inc (17.41M), Bank of America Corp (13.88M), Ford Motor Co (8.18M), Microsoft Corp (7.87M), Exela Technologies Inc (53.07M), Allied Healthcare Products Inc (26.20M), Orbsat Corp (17.02M), Scworx Corp (13.62M), Sundial Growers Inc (8.72M), Red Cat Holdings Inc (8.60M), Meta Materials Inc (7.23M), Bridgeline Digital Inc (7.08M).

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Gold futures were up 0.10% to US$1,807.75 per ounce. Silver decreased 0.68% to US$26.060 per ounce, while copper fell 0.57% to US$4.2915.

Brent oil rose 0.04% to US$76.47 per barrel and WTI crude was up 1.51% to US$75.22.

Bond Market

The 30-year Treasury bond yields was up 2.77% to 2.048, while the 10-year bond yields increased 4.18% to 1.420.

US Dollar Futures Index increased 0.58% to US$92.790.