Dow Jones Drops -0.46% as Investors Await Inflation and Retail Sales Data

The stock market has been volatile in recent weeks as investors try to gauge the direction of the markets. On February 9, 2023 at 1:00 AM +00:00, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined -0.46% and lost about -156.66 points, settling at the end of trading at 34,089.28.[0] This was a break from a two-session streak of gains, where on Monday the Dow was up 1.11%.[1] The S&P 500 rose 1.6% and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 3.3% last week.[2] The small-cap Russell 2000 index was up 3.9% over the same period.[3]

Inflation data is being heavily watched by the Federal Reserve as it prepares to meet next month.[4] The consensus is for an increase of 0.5% month-over-month and 6.2% year-over-year in January’s Consumer Price Index (CPI). However, this figure ended up being higher than expected, coming in at 0.5% month-over-month and 6.4% year-over-year. Core CPI, which excludes fuel and energy prices, was higher than the predicted 0.4% and 5.5%, coming in at 0.4% and 5.6% respectively.[5]

On the economic front, the Commerce Department’s Retail Sales for January was published at 8:30 AM ET, with a consensus of 1.7% uptick from December’s 1.1%.[4] The figure ended up being higher than expected, at 1.8%. Business Inventories for December were released at 10:00 AM ET, with a consensus of 0.3% increase from November’s 0.4%.[6]

Stocks of companies such as Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ: CSCO), Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ: ABNB), Marriott International Inc (NASDAQ: MAR), and The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) will all be watched as they look to release their financial figures in the postmarket period. Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ: CSCO) is projected to announce a profit of $0.86 per share on revenue of $13.4B, Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ: ABNB) is expected to report earnings per share of 25 cents on revenue of $1.[7]

0. “Dow futures tick lower, CPI in focus By Investing.com” Investing.com, 12 Feb. 2023, https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/dow-futures-tick-lower-cpi-in-focus-3001275

1. “Dow Jones Technical Analysis: The Index is Falling Due to Stubborn Resistance” DailyForex.com, 15 Feb. 2023, https://www.dailyforex.com/forex-technical-analysis/2023/02/dow-jones-technical-analysis/191500

2. “Dow Jones Futures Fall: Stock Market Rally Signals It’s No Bear Run, But Don’t Get Complacent | Investor’s Business …” Investor’s Business Daily, 6 Feb. 2023, https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-futures-stock-market-rally-signals-its-not-a-bear-run-what-to-do-now/

3. “Dow Jumps Over 300 Points, Dollar Surges in Midday Trading” Marketscreener.com, 13 Feb. 2023, https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/FIDELITY-NATIONAL-INFORMA-12027/news/Dow-Jumps-Over-300-Points-Dollar-Surges-in-Midday-Trading-42974955

4. “Retail sales, Cisco earnings, Shopify results: 3 things to watch” Yahoo! Voices, 14 Feb. 2023, https://www.yahoo.com/now/retail-sales-cisco-earnings-shopify-154646688.html

5. “5 things to know before the stock market opens Tuesday” CNBC, 14 Feb. 2023, https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/14/5-things-to-know-before-the-stock-market-opens-tuesday-february-14.html

6. “Wall Street Might Open Broadly In Negative Territory” RTTNews, 15 Feb. 2023, https://www.rttnews.com/3344275/wall-street-might-open-broadly-in-negative-territory.aspx

7. “Consumer prices, Coca-Cola, Travel earnings: 3 things to watch By Investing.com” Investing.com, 13 Feb. 2023, https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/consumer-prices-cocacola-travel-earnings-3-things-to-watch-3002096