Opening Comment — Wednesday, May 13, 2026
DJIA: 49,760.56, up 56.09
S&P 500: 7,400.96, down 11.88
NASDAQ: 26,088.20, down 185.93
Stocks mixed ahead of PPI data
Stock futures are mixed Wednesday morning ahead of today’s April Producer Price Index (PPI) data. As of 6:50 AM ET, the yield on the 10-year note is unchanged at 4.46%, while the 30-year bond yield is also unchanged at 5.02%. As of 7:17 AM ET, the Dow is decreasing 0.3%, while the S&P 500 is up 0.2%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 0.7% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were mixed on Tuesday as the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) eased to 0.6% month-over-month (MOM), matching expectations, but showed a greater-than-expected acceleration to 3.8% year-over-year (YOY). The core CPI (which excludes food and energy) accelerated to 0.4% MOM and 2.8% YOY in April, with both figures coming in higher-than-anticipated. The Dow was up 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.7%. The S&P 500 decreased 0.2% with four of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Health Care sector was the top performer, rising 1.9%, while the Consumer Discretionary sector was the bottom performer, falling 1.1%.
On the data front, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s gauge of mortgage applications rose 1.7% for the week ending May 8 versus the prior week’s decrease of 4.4%. The headline PPI is expected to rise 0.5% MOM and 4.8% YOY in April, versus the prior month’s 0.5% and 4.0%, respectively. The core PPI is expected to rise 0.3% MOM and 4.3% YOY in April, faster than the prior month’s 0.1% and 3.8%, respectively. The Department of Energy’s measure of crude oil inventories is expected to have decreased by 2.0 million barrels for the week ending May 8 versus the prior week’s decrease 2.3 million barrels.
Across the pond, European stocks are mixed in mid-day trading as France’s first-quarter unemployment rate came in at 8.1%, exceeding expectations. The second reading of first-quarter eurozone gross domestic product held steady at 0.1% quarter-over-quarter (QOQ) and 0.8% YOY. The region’s March industrial production registered smaller-than-expected increase of 0.2% MOM and a greater-than-anticipated decline of 2.1% YOY. The bloc’s preliminary first-quarter employment increased by 0.1% QOQ and 0.5% YOY.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mostly higher following South Korea’s unemployment rate rising more than expected to 2.8% in April. Australia’s first-quarter Wage Price Index rose 0.8% QOQ and 3.3% YOY.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is higher ahead of the U.S. PPI data release.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is little changed at $102.15/barrel ahead of an expected decline in U.S. crude oil inventories.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.4% lower at $4,695.15/ounce following a strengthening U.S. dollar.