Stocks were highly volatile but recovered some ground to close out the week. Fears of a potential recession drove stocks down after the 2-year Treasury briefly offered a higher yield than the 10-year Treasury. The S&P 500 dropped 1.0% and the Dow fell 1.5% for the week. Abroad, Japan eased 1.3% and Europe declined by 0.5% for the week. The 10-year Treasury yield continued to decline ending the week at 1.54%.
Trump announced he would delay and remove some tariffs set to hit Chinese goods on September 1st. The $156 billion in goods would now have a 10% tariff applied beginning December 15th.
The CPI rose 0.3% in July from June and core prices rose 0.3% as well. Core prices posted the largest two month gain in more than a decade.
Industrial production in China grew less than expected in July.
Germany’s economy contracted by 0.1% in the second quarter due to a decline in exports.
An ECB official said that the ECB will announce stimulus measures next month that will surpass investor expectations.
July retail sales posted strong growth, up 0.7%, well-outpacing expectations and showing consumers are still supporting the US economy.