Stocks Sink After Data

U.S. Market
Stocks were lower this morning after economic data.

The producer price index fell 0.5% in February. Economists had expected producer prices to rise 0.3% in the month. The data is another sign that inflation pressures remain subdued.

Consumer sentiment dropped in March according to the University of Michigan survey. The initial reading of 91.2 was below the 95.4 level seen at the end of February and the 94.8 expected by economists.

The dollar continued its rally this morning after a brief pause yesterday. The euro fell below $1.06 again while the Yen also fell.

At midday the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down 1.5%, 1.2% and 1% respectively.

Stocks on the Move
There was limited corporate news this morning.

Foreign Markets
European markets were mixed today. The FTSE 100 was down 0.4%, while the Paris CAC and Germany’s DAX were up 0.4% and 0.6% respectively.

Asian shares were higher. The Hang Seng was up 0.1%, the Shanghai Composite gained 0.7% while the Nikkei 225 rose 1.4%.