Shawshank, VA 9/14/2011 (PennyPayDay) – The major averages are mixed in mid-morning trading on Wednesday. Hope of a resolution to the sovereign debt crisis in Europe is being counteracted by disappointing retail sales data.The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 5.91 points. The S&P 500 is up 1.06 points. The Nasdaq is showing a modest gain, bolstered by strength in technology. The index is up 14.76 points, or 0.6 percent.
Stocks are attempting to score their third consecutive day of advances. In each of the last two days, stocks have shown weakness or lackluster trading through much of the day, only to secure gains in a late rally.
In the last half hour, the government has released new data on business inventories. Total manufacturers' and trade inventories, adjusted for seasonal factors but not price changes, came in at $1.526 trillion, up 0.4 percent from June levels.
That was slightly less than the 0.5 percent most economists had predicted.
Earlier in the day, the U.S. Commerce Department revealed that August sales figures came in at $389.5 billion, virtually unchanged from the June figure. Economists had expected an advance of 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, a separate report showed that inflation is still under control, good news for those hoping the Fed might be able to step in with some additional stimulus.
The U.S. Labor Department revealed Wednesday that producer prices were unchanged in August. This followed a 0.2 percent advance in the previous month.
Economists had expected a mild decline.
Core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy sectors, saw an advance for August of just 0.1 percent. This was the lowest reading since May and a notable slowdown compared to July's gain of 0.4 percent.
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