Market commentary

This morning’s Producer Price Index reflected an increase of 0.8% in January, in line with economists’ expectations, and representing the seventh consecutive monthly increase in producer prices. Core prices, which strip out volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.5%, the largest monthly gain since 2008. Food prices rose 0.3% while energy prices rose 1.8%. Some of the price increases of raw materials, along with the increase in energy costs, are being pushed through the production process. However, a lot of the price increases are being absorbed by manufacturers before making their way to consumer prices. Thursday we will see the Consumer Price Index.
Housing starts were reported higher, however, this was due entirely to a rise in multifamily starts which rose 78%. Building permits for the month dropped 10%.
This afternoon the Fed will release the minutes from its last meeting, which will be the last piece of economic data for today.