Stocks were poised to rise at the start of trading as investors reacted to government reports on wholesale inflation and the number of people filing for unemployment.
The government said wholesale prices rose 0.8% in January, much higher than the 0.3% increase expected. Producer prices fell 1.9% in December. The core PPI, which excludes the volatile energy and food costs, rose 0.4% in January. That was higher than the expected 0.1% increase and follows a gain of 0.2% the prior month.
Initial jobless claims for the week ended February 14 were unchanged from the prior week at 627,000, close to the consensus estimate of 620,000. Continuing claims were more disturbing, jumping from 4.82 million to 4.99 million. Continuing claims are at a record high and underscore the difficulty in finding a new job. Reports on leading economic indicators and manufacturing in the Philadelphia area will be released during the trading day.
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