for investors as they try to gauge how rising prices will affect businesses, consumers and the Federal Reserve’s policy on interest rates in 2022.
The Labor Department on Thursday reported that its producer price index, which measures prices at the wholesale level, surged 9.7% in 2021. The increase set an annual record and provides further evidence that inflation is still present at all levels of the U.S. economy. The report follows Wednesday’s release of, which showed that inflation jumped at its fastest pace in nearly 40 years last month.
Big technology stocks, which have an outsized influence on the S&P 500 because of their high valuations, accounted for a big share of the decline Thursday. The sector has been slipping in January as investors shift money in anticipation of rising interest rates, which tend to make pricey tech stocks less attractive.“It is a little bit of a confusing narrative for the first two weeks of this year,” said Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at Horizon Investments.
Financial stocks were mixed ahead of quarterly report cards Friday from several major banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup.
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