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 NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street has been reveling in the interest rate standstill of the past nine months, and investors hope this week's data on consumer inflation and the housing market won't suggest things are about to change.
The Dow Jones industrial average has been climbing to record highs, but on a tight rope. The stock market should keep advancing as long as the economy keeps growing and inflation doesn't accelerate, market experts say, but data indicating otherwise could cause a tumble.
The stock market dipped Thursday when retailers reported generally dismal April sales, a day after the Fed repeated that its main concern is not the slow economy, but high inflation. Wall Street regained its footing Friday, though, when core wholesale inflation came in flat for the second month in a row — suggesting the Fed may not need to raise rates to curb inflation, and may even lean toward a cut later in the year.
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