After This Week's Hot CPI And PPI Inflation Readings And Key Earnings Reports, What's Next For The Market?

Zinger Key Points
  • The Labor Department said the consumer price index gained 6.4% in January.
  • The producer price index rose 0.7% month-over-month in January, also exceeding market estimates.

The latest batch of inflation data sent U.S. Treasury rates to the highest level since November and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY lower once again this week.

On Tuesday, the Labor Department said the consumer price index gained 6.4% in January, down from a 6.5% increase in December but above economist estimates of a 6.2% gain. Core CPI inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was 5.6% in January, also higher than economist estimates of 5.5%.

Related Link: Tuesday's Market Minute: Breaking Down January CPI

On Thursday, the Labor Department reported the producer price index rose 0.7% month-over-month in January, exceeding market estimates of a 0.4% gain and marking its largest increase in seven months. Following the PPI reading, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield climbed as high as 3.929% on Friday morning, the highest level since November.

On Wednesday, Bitcoin BTC/USD prices topped $24,000 for the first time since August, but 99-year-old Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) vice chairman Charlie Munger didn't pull any punches when expressing his disdain for cryptocurrencies at the Daily Journal Corporation DJCO annual shareholder meeting. Munger called crypto investors "idiots" and said the cryptocurrency market is "crazy, stupid gambling."

Related Link: Berkshire Hathaway's Charlie Munger Calls Cryptocurrency 'Worthless,' 'Antisocial'

On Thursday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc TSLA is recalling 362,758 vehicles equipped with the beta version of its Full Self-Driving software, which the NHTSA said "increases the risk of a crash." Tesla shares dropped 5.5% on Thursday, but the company said the issues will be addressed via a free, over-the-air software update.

Odds On Favorite: DraftKings Inc DKNG shares rallied Friday after the sports gambling company reported record fourth-quarter revenue and raised its 2023 sales guidance.

In the week ahead, investors will get more quarterly reports from Coinbase Global Inc COIN on Tuesday, NVIDIA Corporation NVDA on Wednesday and Block Inc SQ and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA on Thursday.

The communications services sector's 23.9% earnings drop in the fourth quarter is the largest earnings decline of any S&P 500 sector, according to FactSet.

Economic Numbers: Following the Monday Presidents' Day stock market holiday, Wall Street will get more key economic updates on Wednesday when the Federal Reserve releases its latest meeting minutes and on Friday when the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis releases its January core personal consumption expenditures price index reading.

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