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US PPI drops 0.6%

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US stocks closed higher overnight as the producer price index for February was released.

The Dow gained 47.69 points or 0.45 per cent to 10,733.67.

The Nasdaq put on 11.08 points or 0.47 per cent to 2,389.09.

The S&P 500 rose 6.75 points or 0.58 per cent to 1,166.21.

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.6 per cent in February, following a 1.4 per cent rise in January, according to the US Department of Labor. Core PPI, which excludes good and energy, increased by 0.1 per cent in February, the second monthly rise in a row. The report said a major contributor to the rise in February was the index for cars, which was up 0.5 per cent.

In other news, Hartford Financial Services Group announced that it will conduct a public offering of equity and debt securities as part of a plan to repay the US Treasury. Shares rose US$1.32 or 4.84 per cent to US$28.58.

Yesterday in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 56 points or 1.17 per cent to 4,853.2 and the All Ords was 57.8 points or 1.2 per cent higher to 4,866.9.

Oil this morning was at US$82.93 per barrel and gold was at US$1,119.51 per ounce. The Australian dollar was buying 92.38 US cents, 60.26 pence Sterling, 67.23 Euro cents and 83.44 Japanese yen.

Published on: Thursday, March 18, 2010