The week kicked off with stocks taking a downturn, pulled down by Technology shares, raising some concern that the major indices have been influenced by a few large tech firms. Indices closed in green territory on Tuesday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index climbed to new all-time highs. The rally was boosted by a variety of economic details. The Producer Price Index was unchanged in May following a 0.5% uptick in April. The core measure, which excludes food and energy, decreased by 0.1%. Markets had mixed moves on Wednesday. The Federal Open Market Committee likely affected market action. Despite declining inflation that continues to run below the Fed’s 2.0% target rate, policymakers boosted the target range for the fed funds rate by 25 basis points, to 1% to 1.25%, basing its decision on the expectation that the labor market will continue to strengthen. Also for the month, the Consumer Price Index shed 0.1% versus consensus expectation for no change. A 2.7% decrease in the energy index contributed to the monthly decrease in the CPI. Discounting food and energy, the core CPI edged up 0.1%. In another report, Retail Sales slipped 0.3% in May, following a 0.4% uptick in April. Core sales, excluding autos and gas, held steady following an upwardly revised gain of 0.5% in April. Indices closed trading in the red zone on Thursday, with Technology brands again leading the selloff. On another note, first-time jobless claims decreased in the past week. Department of Labor data showed new claims declined by 8,000 to 237,000. Indices closed the session with mixed moves on Friday. The Dow and S&P 500 tacked on gains while the NASDAQ landed in the red zone. Housing starts decreased in May, as new construction dipped by 5.5% to an annual rate of 1.09 million. Starts were expected to hit 1.22 million. Additionally, consumer sentiment is on the wane in a preliminary reading for June. The University of Michigan’s index of consumer sentiment fell to 94.5, from 97.1 in May. Economists were expecting a flat reading.
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