Opening Comment — Thursday, July 16, 2026
DJIA: 52,658.64, up 150.37
S&P 500: 7,572.40, up 28.81
NASDAQ: 26,269.23, up 162.22
Stocks mixed ahead of retail sales data
Stock futures are mixed Thursday morning ahead of today’s releases on June retail sales and pending home sales, as well as weekly unemployment claims data. As of 7:19 AM ET, the Dow is rising 0.2%, while the S&P 500 is down 0.2%. The Nasdaq 100 is falling 0.8% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were higher on Wednesday as the headline Producer Price Index (PPI) for June fell 0.3% month-over-month (MOM) against expectations of no change and registered a softer-than-expected increase of 5.5% year-over-year (YOY). The core PPI, which excludes volatile components like food and energy, also came in cooler than projected in June, rising 0.2% MOM and 4.7% YOY. The Dow was up 0.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6%. The S&P 500 increased 0.4% with five of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Communication Services sector was the top performer, rising 2.8%, while the Utilities sector was the bottom performer, falling 1.0%.
On the data front, retail sales are expected to have risen 0.2% MOM in June versus the prior month’s increase of 0.9%, while retail sales excluding autos are forecasted to have decreased 0.1% MOM versus the prior month’s increase of 0.8%. Initial jobless claims for the week ending July 11 are expected to come in at 217,000, higher than the prior week’s 215,000, while continuing claims are expected to rise slightly to 1.818 million for the week ending July 4 from the prior week’s 1.814 million. The Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of New York will release their Business Leaders Survey for July, while the Philadelphia Fed will release their July Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey, with the diffusion index of current general activity forecasted to increase to 12.5 from the prior month’s 10.3. The National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Housing Market Index is expected to remain unchanged at 35 in July. Business inventories are expected to have risen 0.3% MOM in May, compared to the prior month’s increase of 0.5%. Pending home sales for June are expected to have decreased 0.5% MOM and increased 2.0% YOY, versus the prior month’s increases of 3.8% and 2.1%, respectively.
Across the pond, European stocks are lower in mid-day trading as the U.K.’s gross domestic product showed greater-than-expected growth of 0.1% MOM in May, reversing the previous month’s decline of 0.1%. Other data for May showed the country’s trade deficit narrowed more than expected, industrial production registered a stronger-than-expected decline of 0.5% MOM and smaller-than-forecasted increase of 1.0% YOY, and the Index of Services showed a higher-than-expected increase of 0.3% MOM. Meanwhile, the eurozone unexpectedly posted a trade deficit in May, defying expectations for a surplus.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mostly lower as the Bank of Korea raised its policy rate to 2.75% at its July 16 monetary policy meeting, though offered no guidance for future meetings. A measure of Australia’s inflation expectations eased to 4.7% in July from 5.5% in June.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is slightly higher ahead of today’s U.S. retail sales data.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is little changed at $79.62/barrel as markets assess the latest U.S.-Iran strikes and discourse.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.8% lower at $4,028.79/ounce following a strengthening U.S. dollar.