"Members generally continued to anticipate that, with longer-term inflation expectations stable and given the existing slack in resource utilization..."
- U.S. Federal ReserveWholesale prices rose in the world's biggest economy rose more than initially expected last month, as fuel costs jumped. According to the Labor Department, U.S. PPI climbed to a seasonally adjusted 1.1% in September, after a 1.7% gain in the preceding month. The rate came better than a consensus estimate of analysts' who has predicted a 0.8% gain.
"Members generally continued to anticipate that, with longer-term inflation expectations stable and given the existing slack in resource utilization, inflation over the medium term would run at or below the Committee's longer-run objective of 2 percent," according to the Federal Reserve.
Also Friday, the University of Michigan said confidence among U.S. consumers rose surprisingly in October, reaching the highest level since December 2007, a sign that retailers may see sales improvement soon. U.S. consumer sentiment jumped to a seasonally adjusted 83.1, up from 78.3 in the prior month, beating analysts' expectations of a fall to 78.0.
The Standard & Poor's 500 erased 0.30 per cent to 1,428.59. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.02 per cent to 13,328.85. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.17 per cent to 3,044.12.
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