US stocks rise after soft retail sales data drives dovish Fed outlook

• US stocks ticked higher on Thursday and Treasury yields declined.
• Investors digested weaker-than-expected retail sales for January.
• Nvidia’s disclosure of a stake in SoundHound AI sent the voice recognition stock 76% higher. 

US stocks ticked higher on Thursday while bond yields declined as investors took in softer-than-expected retail sales data and labor market updates.

In January, advance retail sales dipped 0.8%, more than the forecasted 0.3% drop and well below December’s 0.4% gain. 

“Today’s numbers may take some pressure off GDP growth and therefore rates, while doing little to hurt the narrative of a strong economy. This could be just what the market needed to continue its strength,” David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation said in a note. 

Meanwhile, initial unemployment claims dropped 8,000 from the prior week’s revised total to 212,000. That figure, too, came in below estimates for 220,000, and the downside surprise comes amid ongoing layoff announcements from major companies across industries. 

Falling Treasury yields suggest markets took in the latest data as a signal for a more dovish Fed outlook. The 10-year Treasury yield fell six basis points to 4.207%

On Wednesday, stocks climbed despite hotter-than-expected inflation data, which showed consumer prices climbed 3.1% year-on-year in January.

In comments Wednesday, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee maintained that inflation was moving in the right direction, regardless of the fresh uptick. 

“If you see inflation go up a little bit that doesn’t mean that we’re not on the target to get to 2%,” Goolsbee said in comments at the Council on Foreign Relations. “We can still be on the path even if we have some increases and some ups and downs.”

Here’s where US indexes stood as the market opened at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday: 

• S&P 500: 5,004.77, up 0.09% 

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 38,431.16, up 0.02% (+8.80 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 15,881.43, up 0.14% 

Here’s what else is going on: 

• Warren Buffett’s company slashed its Paramount and HP stakes last quarter.
• These are the top 10 holdings of the Mormon Church’s $51 billion stock portfolio.
• SocGen says the S&P 500 would have to climb another 25% to reach dot-com era exuberance.
• Jeremy Grantham said the epic stock market rally will end badly.
• Shares of SoundHound AI soared 76% after Nvidia revealed a stake in the company.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto: 

• Oil prices climbed, with West Texas Intermediate crude up 0.26% to $76.84 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, moved up 0.16% to $81.73 a barrel.
• Gold edged higher 0.47% to $2,013.80 per ounce.
• The 10-year Treasury yield dropped six basis points to hover at 4.207%.
• Bitcoin climbed 0.97% to $52,294.