Hightower’s Link shares her view on S&P 500 after U.S. PCE data today

S&P 500 is trending up today after the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics said the core personal consumption expenditures price index rose in line with expectations in June.

Stephanie Link remains bullish on equities

For the month, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge was up 0.2% last month.

Excluding food and energy, the core PCE printed up 4.1% versus last year compared to the Dow Jones estimate of 4.2%. Reiterating her positive stance on stocks today, Hightower’s Stephanie Link said:

I think the economic data is supportive of a soft landing, at least for now. Consumer has been resilient because jobs have been so strong. Wages are up.

Personal income was reported up 0.3% today – marginally below estimates. A 0.5% increase in spending, though, was in line.

U.S. economy continues to be resilient

Headline PCE was up 3.0% in June on an annualised basis – the lowest reading since March of 2021. For the month, it decelerated further to 0.2%.  

Note that the U.S. economy also grew a better-than-expected 2.4% in the second quarter. On CNBC’s “Squawk Box”, Link added:

44% of the companies have reported so far, 80% are beating and growing earnings overall about 3.0%. That’s much better than what people thought. We have a long way to go, but so far so good.

The stock market news arrives a couple days after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised rates by another 25 basis points as Invezz reported here. S&P 500 is up about 20% for the year at writing.