CNBC Daily Open: U.S. inflation meets expectations, but that's not necessarily good
But what happens when we expect something bad, and the outcome meets expectations?
The U.S. consumer price index in June, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Tuesday, matched the Dow Jones consensus estimate. And there was even a pleasant surprise: Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2% on the month, which was 0.1 percentage points below expectations.
That said, both the headline and core inflation numbers, on an annual basis, hit their highest since February.
"The latest U.S. inflation report practically confirmed that President Trump's tariffs acted to push up consumer prices in June," said Matthew Ryan, head of market strategy at global financial services firm Ebury.
Hence, while the inflation figures didn't surprise market watchers and investors — markets really dislike unpredictability — the fact that the downbeat expectations were realized still weighed on stocks, which mostly fell on the news.
As yesterday's market movements illustrate — and as many of us, after going through performance reviews with our supervisors, know — sometimes, meeting expectations isn't good enough.
A preliminary U.S.-Indonesia deal. U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that under the trade agreement, U.S. exports from Indonesia will face a 19% tariff, while American goods will enter the Southeast Asian country tariff-free. Jakarta has yet to confirm the deal.
Inflation in the U.S. reaccelerated in June. The consumer price index rose 0.3% on the month, putting the 12-month inflation rate at 2.7%. While those numbers are in line with expectations, the annual rate is the highest since February and above the Federal Reserve's 2% target.
The Nasdaq Composite bucks the trend. A 4% jump in Nvidia boosted the tech-heavy index to a record close, even as the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated Tuesday. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.37%.
Big banks beat earnings expectations. JPMorgan Chase and Citibank on Tuesday reported second-quarter results that beat estimates for earnings per share and revenue. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said the bank will get involved in stablecoins.
[PRO] Fund managers are bullish on European stocks. A Bank of America survey of European fund managers found that 81% of respondents saw upside for the region's equities in the coming 12 months.
Trump-backed crypto regulation bills fail to clear key hurdle in Congress
Several cryptocurrency regulation bills backed by Trump failed to clear a key procedural hurdle Tuesday in the House of Representatives, dealing a major blow to the crypto industry.
The measures had been widely expected to pass. The failure of the rule during what is being billed as "Crypto Week" was a rare instance of House Republicans refusing to take direction from Trump.
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