If the Fed was looking for signs the economy was perking up they wouldn’t be betting on June’s inflation rate.
According to the Labor Department, the consumer price index rose a modest 0.2 percent last month. When gasoline and food are pulled out, Core CPI rose the same amount. The annualized rate stands at only 1 percent.
Retail sales, however, did post a healthy 0.6 percent gain. Without automobile sales, the rate was 0.7 percent stronger in June.
The news added fuel to the fire as profit-taking and the search for undervalued investments pushed both the Dow and S&P 500 to record levels during the week.