US stocks shot up on Thursday following news that the latest inflation report had yielded better-than-expected results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 1,201.43 points, closing at 33,715.37 at the closing bell for a 3.70% gain. Other indices fared even better: the Nasdaq Composite gained 760.97 points to close at 11,114.15, a gain of 7.35%; and the S&P 500 gained 207.80 points, closing at 3,956.37, which was a a 5.54% increase.
All in all, it was the New York Stock Exchange's biggest day since March 1, 2020, when Federal Reserve's reaction to trade interruptions caused by the growing COVID-19 outbreak triggered a wave of opportunistic buying.
Earlier on Thursday, the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revealed that the price of basic consumer goods increased by 7.7% in October 2022 as compared to a year earlier. Compared to the previous month, prices increased by 0.4%. Economists had expected both numbers to be higher, at 7.9% and 0.6%, respectively.
However, the Thursday numbers are still near historic highs, meaning that while the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes seem to be having some effect, the central bank won’t be relenting anytime soon. Earlier this month, the Fed increased interest rates for the sixth consecutive month, adding 75 base points to the Federal Funds Rate governing overnight intra-bank loaning.
“This morning’s CPI data were a welcome relief,” Lorie K. Logan, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said after the report was released. “But there is still a long way to go.”
The BLS also released its monthly jobs report last week, finding that 261,000 new jobs were created in October, but 306,000 people also lost their jobs, causing unemployment to slide higher. However, at 3.7%, unemployment is also at a historic low.
However, raising interest rates is sure to increase unemployment and likely to also send the US into a recession in the coming months. A number of factors have contributed to a depreciating value of the dollar in recent years, including cost increases and parts shortages associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the US boycott on Russian energy exports, and price speculation.
However, US fiscal policy is also failing to address the primary driver of inflation, according to some economists. An April study by the Economic Policy Institute found that corporate profits accounted for 54% of inflation in the United States in the last two years. US President Joe Biden has condemned “war profiteering” by oil giants for selling petroleum and petroleum products at elevated prices, but taken no political action against the practice.