U.S. Stocks May Experience Volatility As Traders Digest Inflation Data

With traders digesting highly anticipated U.S. consumer price inflation data, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Thursday.

The major index futures have fluctuated following the release of the report and are currently pointing to a slightly lower open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by 0.1 percent.

The Labor Department said its consumer price index climbed by 0.3 percent in December after inching up by 0.1 percent in November. Economists had expected consumer prices to rise by 0.2 percent.

Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices still rose by 0.3 percent in December, matching the increase seen in November as well as economist estimates.

The report also showed the annual rate of consumer price growth accelerated to 3.4 percent in December from 3.1 percent in November. The annual rate of growth was expected to tick up to 3.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the annual rate of growth by core consumer prices slowed to 3.9 percent in December from 4.0 percent in November. Economists had expected the pace of core price growth to decelerate to 3.8 percent.

Treasury yields have seen considerable volatility following the release of the data, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

A separate report released by the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged slightly lower in the week ended January 6th.

The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 202,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 203,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 210,000 from the 202,000 originally reported for the previous week.

After ending Tuesday’s session on opposite sides of the unchanged line, the major U.S. stock indexes all moved to the upside during trading on Wednesday. With the upward move, the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed higher for the fourth straight session.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels…