Dow Soars as Wall Street Chews Through Earnings & Inflation Data—Bulls Feast While Mainstarves
Wall Street's dopamine rush hits record highs as the Dow Jones feasts on a buffet of corporate earnings and inflation figures. Traders wipe champagne off their screens while economists frantically adjust PowerPoints.
Earnings season delivers sugar rush
Blue-chip stocks moon on better-than-expected Q2 reports—because nothing says 'healthy economy' like companies beating lowered expectations. The S&P 500 joins the party, proving money printers still work if you're in the right zip code.
Inflation data: The Rorschach test
CPI numbers get the Rorschach treatment—bulls see cooling trends, bears spot sticky cores. The Fed watches from its marble tower, muttering about 'data dependence' while secretly eyeing the election calendar.
As algos party like it's 2021, retail investors face the oldest Wall Street lesson: The house always wins—especially when it's trading against your Robinhood account.
Stocks,crypto up amid latest U.S. inflation data
Stocks had declined on Tuesday in reaction to inflation concerns and renewed tariff uncertainty. However, with investors navigating the latest tariff-driven jitters, Wall Street turned optimistic.
The uptick has been helped by the lower-than-expected producer price index data released on Wednesday.
U.S. June PPI ROSE 2.3% year over year, its lowest level since September 2024. This was below the forecasted 2.5% increase. On a month-over-month basis, PPI was flat, also below the expected 0.20% gain.
Slowing inflation often triggers positive moves in risk assets, as investors view such data as signaling a potential interest rate decline.
Bitcoin (BTC) also advanced after pulling back to $116,000 amid profit-taking from its recent run to $123,000. With “crypto week” underway, BTC edged higher again and was retesting resistance NEAR $119,000.
Elsewhere, Gold remained steady amid tariff-related sentiment, while the bond market showed a muted reaction.
“U.S. producer price inflation for June was softer than the consensus forecasts, with no monthly change for the headline and Core measures. Annual inflation moderated to 2.3% and 2.6% respectively. [However] the immediate reaction of yields on US Treasury bonds is muted as markets are also noting the unusually large upward revision in the prior (May) estimates,” said top economist Mohamed El-Erian.
