US Stock Market Today: Wall Street's main indexes declined on Thursday, Aug. 14, after a higher-than-expected producer prices report dampened investor expectations of potential interest-rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve.
A Labor Department report showed the producer price index rose 3.3% on an annual basis in July, higher than the 2.5% gain expected by Reuters. On a monthly basis, it rose 0.9%, compared with an estimated 0.2% rise.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 164.29 points, or 0.37%, to 44,757.98, the S&P 500 lost 16.84 points, or 0.26%, to 6,449.74 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 22.69 points, or 0.10%, to 21,690.45. Nine of the 11 S&P 500 sectors declined, with materials down 1.2%, falling the most. Rate-sensitive small-caps and housing stocks also dropped more than 1% each.
Producer inflation data slashes US Fed rate cut bets
Traders lowered their US Fed rate-cut expectations for the rest of the year to about 58 basis points, according to data compiled by LSEG, compared with around 63 bps before the report. However, they are still fully pricing in a quarter-percentage-point cut in September 2025.
Recent data reflecting labor market weakness and a slight rise in consumer prices had boosted expectations that the central bank will potentially lower interest rates next month. Thursday's report fanned concerns that US tariffs on imports could start to impact prices in the coming months and dampen a rally in US stocks that had helped the benchmark S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq log record highs over the past two sessions.
Separate data showed the number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits fell last week amid low layoffs. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly pushed back against the need for a 50-basis-point rate cut next month, a day after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said an aggressive half-point cut was possible.
US stocks in focus
Cisco Systems lost 1% after the network equipment manufacturer's broadly in-line forecast did little to encourage investors. Deere & Co fell 8% after the farm-equipment maker reported a lower quarterly profit and tightened its annual profit forecast, while Tapestry plunged 17.6% after the Coach handbag maker forecast annual profit below estimates. Both companies warned of tariffs impacting their business.
Wall Street opening bell
At opening bell, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq retreated from record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 31.4 points, or 0.07%, at the open to 44,890.84. The S&P 500 fell 13.1 points, or 0.20%, at the open to 6,453.46, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 63.9 points, or 0.29%, to 21,649.211 at the opening bell.
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