Stocks End Higher Yesterday, On Pace To Close Higher For The Week  Image: Bigstock Stocks ended solidly higher yesterday with all of the major indexes in the green. The Dow was in positive territory from the opening bell, but the S&P and Nasdaq opened in the red. But by late afternoon, they climbed into the plus column and finished near their best levels at the close. The pullback over the last couple of weeks felt overdone.
Yes, the last PCE report showed a modest uptick in inflation, while the CPI and PPI showed modest decreases. But they are all down significantly from last year's summer highs. And the interest rate hike cycle doesn't seem like it's going to change much (if at all) from what the Fed had previously alluded to, which was a terminal rate of 5.1%. And while the economy has eased, it's proving to be very resilient with a robust current quarter GDP estimate of 2.3% -- far, far, far from a recession. Some had worried with the stubborn inflation numbers, the Fed might opt to raise by 50 basis points at their next meeting on March 21-22. But Atlanta Fed President, Raphael Bostic, said yesterday that he is still in favor of raising interest rates in quarter point increments. He has previously made the case for 50 bps. But admits that it takes time for interest rates to impact the economy. And until the data suggests otherwise, he's for the more measured pace for now. In other news, the Motor Vehicle Sales report showed Total Vehicle Sales at 14.9 million units (annualized) vs. last month's upwardly revised 15.9M and the consensus for 15.0M. North American-Made Sales came in at 11.8M vs. last month's upwardly revised 12.5M. Weekly Jobless Claims came in better than expected, falling by -2,000 to 190K vs. the consensus for 200K. Although, the Productivity and Costs report could have been better with Productivity up 1.7% (annualized) vs. last month's 3.0% and views for 2.5%, while Unit Labor Costs came in at 3.2% (annualized) vs. last month's 1.1% and views for 1.4%. Today we'll get the PMI Composite report, and the ISM Services Index. And we'll hear from Federal Reserve Board Governor, Michelle Bowman, and Richmond Fed President, Thomas Barkin. Stocks are on pace to close higher for the week. And that would be a great way to start the new month. Best,  Kevin Matras
Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research | 
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