Stock Markets

Eggs boost US producer prices in November, but services inflation slowing

Published

7 days ago

December 13, 2024

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. producer prices increased by the most in five months in November, but easing costs of services such as portfolio management fees and airline fares offered hope that the disinflationary trend remains in place despite stalled progress.

A surge in the price of eggs amid an avian flu outbreak accounted for much of the bigger-than-expected rise in producer inflation last month. Other details of the report from the Labor Department on Thursday were, however, mostly favorable, prompting economists to sharply lower their estimates for the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price measures tracked by the Federal Reserve for its 2% inflation target.

The report, together with other data showing more people were collecting unemployment checks at the end of November relative to the beginning of the year as demand for labor cools, cemented investor expectations that the U.S. central bank would deliver its third consecutive interest rate cut next week.

Inflation could, however, rise next year should President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration push ahead with tariff increases and mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

“We see little evidence of pipeline price pressure in the producer price data,” said Samuel Tombs, chief U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. “The foundations are in place for core PCE inflation to fall further next year, though the new administration will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory if they press ahead with higher import tariffs and deportations.”

The producer price index for final demand jumped 0.4%, the largest gain since June, after an upwardly revised 0.3% increase in October, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PPI gaining 0.2% following a previously reported 0.2% rise in October.

In the 12 months through November, the PPI shot up 3.0%. That was the biggest year-on-year increase since February 2023 and followed a 2.6% rise in October. The government reported on Wednesday that consumer prices increased by the most in seven months in November, while a measure of underlying price pressures continued to run warmer over the past four months.

Wholesale goods prices surged 0.7%, accounting for nearly 60% of the monthly rise in the PPI, after edging up 0.1% in October. Food prices soared 3.1%, making up 80% of the increase in goods prices. Wholesale egg prices vaulted 54.6%, the most since June, after declining 20.6% in October.

Prices for fresh and dry vegetables, fresh fruits and melons also rose. Energy prices gained 0.2%. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, goods prices rose 0.2%, advancing by the same margin for five straight months.

SERVICES PRICES TAMER

Services prices gained 0.2% after climbing 0.3% in October. Portfolio management fees fell 0.6% after surging 3.1% in October. Airline passenger fares decreased 2.1% after increasing 2.6% in the prior month. The cost of hotel and motel rooms dropped 3.1% after rising 2.8% in October.

Prices for physician and hospital outpatient care were unchanged, but the cost of hospital inpatient care rose 0.2%.

Portfolio management fees, healthcare, hotel and motel accommodation and airline fares are among components that go into the calculation of the PCE price index, excluding food and energy. Following the PPI data, economists slashed their estimates for November’s so-called core PCE inflation to 0.11% from as high as 0.3% on Wednesday after the CPI report.

Core PCE inflation is one of the measures tracked by the Fed for monetary policy. It rose 0.3% for a second straight month in October. Core inflation was forecast increasing 2.8% year-on-year in November, matching October’s advance.

“If our forecast proves correct, it would be a relief and leave us less worried about the recent trajectory of inflation,” said Aditya Bhave, a U.S. economist at Bank of America Securities. “That said … progress on inflation has stalled of late, and there are upside risks to inflation on the horizon.”

Stocks on Wall Street were mostly lower. The dollar was steady versus a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury yields rose.

Financial markets have almost fully priced in a quarter-percentage-point rate cut at the Fed’s Dec. 17-18 policy meeting, according to CME Group’s (NASDAQ:) FedWatch Tool.

The Fed kicked off its monetary policy easing cycle in September. Its benchmark overnight interest rate is now in the 4.50%-4.75% range, having been hiked by 5.25 percentage points between March 2022 and July 2023 to tame inflation.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 17,000 to a seasonally adjusted 242,000 for the week ended Dec. 7.

The jump likely reflected volatility after the Thanksgiving holiday and probably does not mark an abrupt shift in labor market conditions. Claims are likely to remain choppy in the weeks ahead. Nonetheless, the labor market is slowing.

Though job growth accelerated in November after being severely constrained by strikes and hurricanes in October, the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2% after holding at 4.1% for two consecutive months. A stable labor market is critical to keeping the economic expansion on track.

Historically low layoffs account for much of the labor market stability, and have driven consumer spending.

The number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, increased 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.886 million during the week ending Nov. 30, the claims report showed.

The elevated so-called continued claims are a sign that some laid-off people are experiencing longer bouts of unemployment. Continued claims are still running high in Washington State, despite the end early last month of a strike at Boeing (NYSE:) .

They remain lofty in North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and in Michigan following job losses in the automobile sector. The median duration of unemployment spells rose to the highest level in nearly three years in November.

“While the labor market on balance appears healthy, there are some pockets of softness, and the Fed wants to guard against that turning into more significant weakness,” said Nancy Vanden Houten, lead U.S. economist at Oxford Economics.

Stock Markets

Coupa Named a Leader in IDC MarketScape for Worldwide SaaS and Cloud-Enabled Direct Spend

Published

15 hours ago

December 19, 2024

With Coupa’s total spend management platform, companies can optimize supplier sourcing, manage direct and indirect spend and future proof operations in one unified platform

FOSTER CITY, Calif., Dec. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Coupa, the margin multiplier company, has been named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide SaaS and Cloud-Enabled Direct Spend 2024 Vendor Assessment (Doc #US52734424, December 2024).

In the first report of its kind from IDC covering the direct spend market landscape, the IDC MarketScape for Direct Spend, cited the benefits of Coupa’s unified platform as a key strength. The report states, “Coupa offers a holistic platform for optimized direct spend, leveraging a robust platform that fosters supply chain collaboration, mitigates risk, facilitates ease of supply chain design and planning, and is seamlessly integrated with the full S2P suite to drive ease of contracting, purchasing, and invoice management.”

“The need for an integrated spend management approach has never been more critical, as businesses face external factors impacting revenue, like volatile interest rates and supply chain disruptions, all while managing outdated sourcing processes and fragmented systems,” said Salvatore Lombardo, Chief Product and Technology Officer. “Coupa’s AI-driven total spend management platform provides businesses with a holistic view that helps them grow margins, streamline processes, and mitigate risks, through data-driven decision-making. Our community-generated AI gets smarter by the minute, informed by our $7T in global spend data and network of buyers and suppliers. Using Coupa AI, our customers are creating more resilient and adaptive supply chains, identifying new strategic suppliers, and discovering opportunities to manage their business spend more effectively and efficiently.”

“We are building a network that will sit at the center of global trade. In the future, supply and demand will be matched autonomously, in real time, allowing buyers and suppliers to connect seamlessly and creating a self-sustaining loop that saves everyone money while constantly learning and adapting,” added Lombardo.

Coupa provides the most comprehensive, connected, and agile solution covering the full direct spend process in one unified platform. Coupa’s unmatched direct spend capabilities include:

Supplier Sourcing Optimization: Find the best suppliers, negotiate better contracts, and drive savings, all while optimizing sourcing strategies to meet business goals.
Supply Chain Design & Planning: Monitor your physical supply chain in near-real time and run what-if scenarios to enhance decision-making across cost, service, and sustainability.
Supply Chain Collaboration: Enhance communication with suppliers in real-time and improve order fulfillment and ensure supply continuity with better visibility and collaboration.
Third Party Risk Management: Assess and manage supplier risks by quickly identifying threats, while strengthening compliance to build supplier resiliency.
Contract Lifecycle Management: Streamline the contract management process by parsing documents and integrating contracts with sourcing and procurement workflows.
Invoicing, Payments & Treasury: Automate invoice and PO matching to reduce errors and accelerate payments and ensure tax compliance and liquidity.

For a complimentary excerpt copy of the report, click here.

Additional Information

Read the report blog
Learn more about Coupa Supply Chain Collaboration

About Coupa
Coupa makes margins multiply through its community-generated AI and industry leading total spend management platform for businesses large and small. Coupa AI is informed by trillions of dollars of direct and indirect spend data across a global network of 10M+ buyers and suppliers. We empower you with the ability to predict, prescribe, and automate smarter, more profitable business decisions to improve operating margins. Coupa is the margin multiplier company™. Learn more at coupa.com and follow us on LinkedIn and X (Twitter).

About IDC MarketScape
IDC MarketScape vendor analysis model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of ICT (information and communications technology) suppliers in a given market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor’s position within a given market. IDC MarketScape provides a clear framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and strategies, and current and future market success factors of IT and telecommunications vendors can be meaningfully compared. The framework also provides technology buyers with a 360-degree assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and prospective vendors.

“IDC, MarketScape: Worldwide SaaS and Cloud-Enabled Direct Spend 2024 Vendor Assessment, Doc #US52734424, December 2024”

Stock Markets

US stocks edge higher ahead of Fed rate decision

Published

15 hours ago

December 19, 2024

Investing.com — US stocks climbed Wednesday, as investors awaited the Federal Reserve rate decision.

At 12:53 ET (17:53 GMT), the climbed 0.4%, or 160 points, the rose 0.2% and the added 0.2%.

Fed set to cut rates, but eyes on projections

The Fed is widely expected to cut rates when it announced its monetary policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Market focus will be squarely on the Fed’s economic projections including rate cuts for the next year, and comments from Chair Jerome Powell.

Investors expect the Fed to indicate a slower pace of rate cuts in 2025, as persistent inflation and a strong labor market—two key challenges for the Fed—continue to pose concerns.

On Tuesday, data showed that retail sales rose by 0.7% in November, above the 0.5% forecast.

Stronger-than-expected retail sales data signals that the economy remains strong and consumer spending remains robust, despite challenges like inflation and high interest rates.

This strength was driven by a solid labor market and steady household finances.

Tech cuts intraday losses as Nvidia rebounds

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:) rebounded as investors bought the recent dip in the chipmaker, helping the broader tech sector recovery.The move higher in the chipmaker comes a day after it fell deeper into correction territory following its 10% plunge from a recent peak.

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:) rose 0.1%, while Alphabet (NASDAQ:) added 0.1%.

Jabil Circuit Inc (NYSE:) was also in rally mode, surging 9% after reporting stronger-than-expected fiscal first quarter results and guidance.

Elsewhere on the earnings front, Birkenstock Holding ltd (NYSE:) reported Q4 results that topped Wall Street estimates, sending its shares more than 6% higher.

General Mills Inc (NYSE:) stumbled after cutting its annual outlook on earnings as ramp up in promotional activity dented margins.

Stock Markets

American Water Charitable Foundation Donated Over $5 Million in 2024 to Support and Strengthen Communities

Published

15 hours ago

December 19, 2024

CAMDEN, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The American Water (NYSE:) Charitable Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization established by American Water (NYSE: AWK), the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the U.S., announced today it awarded a combined total of $5.4 million to organizations across the U.S., supporting communities served by American Water in 2024.

Through the American Water Charitable Foundation’s Keep Communities Flowing Grant Program, $4.7 million was awarded to over 400 eligible non-profit organizations across the country. Additionally, over 4,000 employees participated in the Foundation’s Employee Matching Gift and Rewards Programs with over $700,000 donated to more than 2,200 charities. 2024 giving will be finalized in mid-January.

Following are a few examples of how the American Water Charitable Foundation is making a difference nationwide:

As extreme weather events increase in frequency and intensity, we continue to count on forward-thinking Disaster Responder members like the American Water Charitable Foundation to help power our preparedness and relief efforts, said Anne McKeough, Chief Development Officer, American Red Cross. We are so thankful for the American Water Charitable Foundation’s donation, which underscores their commitment to compassion in advance of disasters big and small.
We really appreciate the partnership with the American Water Charitable Foundation and California American Water for their commitment to Monterey Peninsula College students, said Beccie Michael, MPC Foundation Executive Director. Funds provided by the Foundation will create valuable opportunities for our students as they work towards earning STEM degrees and ultimately becoming STEM professionals. This grant is a prime example of working together to ensure a well-educated, well-prepared future workforce to meet our community’s needs.
We are deeply grateful for the American Water Charitable Foundation’s support through the 2024 Water and Environment grant, said Kelly Knutson, Director for the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed. Clarity around tap water processes is essential, as it fosters public trust in the safety and quality of our drinking water, benefiting every individual and safeguarding the health of our watershed community. Thank you to the American Water Charitable Foundation for their commitment to our collective mission of a healthy and protected watershed.”
We are thankful for the American Water Charitable Foundation’s continued support of our mission to end veteran suicide, said Lindsay (NYSE:) Grayson, Chief Revenue Officer, K9s For Warriors. K9s For Warriors has paired more than 1,000 veterans with a service dog. With the American Water Charitable Foundation’s help, we can continue to provide these life-changing animals to veterans in need, helping them regain their independence and improve their quality of life.

Since 2012, the American Water Charitable Foundation has invested nearly $21 million in funding through grants and matching gifts that are important to American Water’s employees and positively impact the communities where they live and work.

Grants provided by the American Water Charitable Foundation support impactful initiatives and programs throughout American Water’s national footprint. Our charitable focus to Keep Communities Flowing empowers our community partners to make meaningful long-term differences in the lives of those they serve,” said Carrie Williams, President, American Water Charitable Foundation. Additionally, the Foundation is proud to support American Water employees in their own charitable endeavors through matching gifts and rewards.

Learn more about the American Water Charitable Foundation here.

About American Water

American Water (NYSE: AWK) is the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the United States. With a history dating back to 1886, We Keep Life Flowing ® by providing safe, clean, reliable and affordable drinking water and wastewater services to more than 14 million people with regulated operations in 14 states and on 18 military installations. American Water’s 6,500 talented professionals leverage their significant expertise and the company’s national size and scale to achieve excellent outcomes for the benefit of customers, employees, investors and other stakeholders.

For more information, visit amwater.com and join American Water on LinkedIn, Facebook (NASDAQ:), X and Instagram.

About American Water Charitable Foundation

The American Water Charitable Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides a formal way to demonstrate the company’s ongoing commitment to be a good neighbor, citizen, and contributor to the communities where American Water and its employees live, work and operate. For more information, visit amwater.com/awcf.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241218463998/en/

Media Contact
Alicia Barbieri
Director, Communications & External Affairs
American Water
(856) 676-8103
alicia.barbieri@amwater.com

Source: American Water