US close: Stocks lower following July CPI reading
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Friday 29 Aug 2025
(Sharecast News) - Major indices traded lower on Friday as market participants digested news that inflation had ticked higher in July.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.20% at 45,544.88, while the S&P 500 shed 0.64% to 6,460.26 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.15% weaker at 21,455.55.
The Dow closed 92.02 points lower on Friday, extending losses recorded in the previous session as investors weighed Nvidia's latest quarterly update and its implications for the broader artificial intelligence trade.
Friday's primary focus was undoubtedly July's consumer price expenditures report, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, which revealed inflation had edged higher last month, indicating that Donald Trump's so-called "reciprocal" tariffs had begun to work their way through the US economy.
According to the Commerce Department, last month's personal consumption expenditures price index showed that core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy costs, ran at a 2.9% seasonally adjusted annual rate - up 0.1 percentage point from the June level and the highest annual rate since February. On a monthly basis, the core PCE index increased 0.3%, in line with expectations, while the all-items index saw an annual increase of 2.6% and a monthly gain of 0.2%.
Elsewhere on the macro front, Americans' incomes and spending grew briskly in July, while price pressures picked up a tad. According to the Department of Commerce, personal incomes and spending rose at a month-on-month pace of 0.4% and 0.5%, respectively. Both readings were in line with economists' forecasts.
On another note, the University of Michigan's final consumer sentiment index for August came in at 58.2, down from 58.6 in July and slightly below preliminary estimates of the same, reflecting renewed concerns over inflation and deteriorating buying conditions. Consumer expectations also deteriorated in August, dropping from 57.2 to 55.9, according to the data, while the current economic conditions index dropped from 68.0 in July to 61.7. Buying conditions for durable goods fell to their lowest reading in more than a year, while current personal finances declined 7%, due to increased concerns about high prices. Year-ahead inflation expectations moved up from 4.5% last month to 4.8% this month, with the rise seen across multiple demographic groups. Long-run inflation expectations edged up from 3.4% in July to 3.5% in August.
Still on data, America's trade deficit widened much more than expected in July to its highest in four months, as purchasing managers shipped products into the country to get ahead of the tariff deadline. The goods trade balance was -$103.6bn last month, some 22.1% bigger than the previous month's $84.9bn, the Commerce Department reported. This was much wider than the consensus estimate for a trade deficit of $87.4bn. Exports fell 0.1% over the month to $178.0bn, while imports surged 7.1% to $281.5bn.
Finally, business activity in the key Chicago manufacturing sector contracted at a much sharper rate than expected in August, according to a closely followed survey from the Institute for Supply Management on Friday. The Chicago Business Barometer, which surveys purchasing managers in manufacturing across the region, sank to just 41.5 from 47.1 in July. The consensus forecast was 46.0.
No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Friday.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
Dow Jones - Risers
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $306.10 1.29%
American Express Co. (AXP) $331.07 1.26%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $157.32 1.16%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $160.82 1.00%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $177.16 1.00%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $68.96 0.96%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $83.94 0.89%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $96.90 0.83%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $118.56 0.79%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $232.14 0.76%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $416.45 -4.17%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $24.35 -2.56%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $243.10 -1.05%
3M Co. (MMM) $156.01 -0.95%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $77.26 -0.78%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $745.67 -0.65%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $506.69 -0.45%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $406.32 -0.22%
Boeing Co. (BA) $235.86 -0.15%
S&P 500 - Risers
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $314.70 8.79%
J. M. Smucker Co. (SJM) $110.49 3.62%
Edison International (EIX) $56.69 3.58%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $20.95 3.41%
Eastman Chemical Co. (EMN) $70.25 3.09%
Brown Forman Corp. Class B (BF.B) $29.77 2.78%
Elevance Health Inc. (ELV) $317.83 2.38%
Apache Corp. (APA) $23.22 2.34%
Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (LW) $57.54 2.31%
LKQ Corporation (LKQ) $32.63 2.00%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $492.73 -7.94%
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) $224.82 -6.27%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $416.45 -4.17%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $100.15 -4.13%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $162.63 -3.56%
Dollar General Corp (DG) $108.04 -3.35%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $65.00 -3.30%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $297.39 -3.29%
Deere & Co. (DE) $476.14 -3.13%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $174.18 -3.11%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $8.58 19.94%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $314.70 8.79%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $95.30 7.09%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $73.75 4.36%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $31.07 3.22%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $2,472.63 2.53%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $212.91 1.82%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $213.53 1.79%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $11.96 1.61%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $67.10 1.60%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $492.73 -7.94%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $333.87 -4.82%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $100.15 -4.13%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $742.62 -3.77%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $65.00 -3.30%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $297.39 -3.29%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $174.18 -3.11%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $90.51 -2.62%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $160.76 -2.57%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $109.17 -2.57%
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