Sales give Wall Street some bounce
NEW YORK, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Markets rose in New York Friday after the Commerce Department said retail gains in September were more than twice what was expected.
The department said sales advanced 1.1 percent in the month, higher than the 0.5 percent increase expected by economists.
In early afternoon trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average, already ahead on the week, added 65.36 points or 0.57 percent to 11,543.50. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 8.35 points or 0.69 percent to 1,212.01. The Nasdaq composite index added 17.77 points or 0.68 percent to 2,638.01.
The benchmark 10-year treasury note fell 14/32 to yield 2.233 percent.
The euro rose to $1.3869 from Thursday's $1.3777. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 77.23 yen from Thursday's 76.90 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index lost 0.85 percent, 75.29 points, to 8,747.96.
China's September inflation moderates
BEIJING, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Inflation, a major cause of concern for the Chinese government, eased to 6.1 percent in September from 6.2 percent in August, it was announced Friday.
The inflation rate, as measured by the consumer price index, has been coming down slowly since it hit a 37-month high of 6.5 percent in July.
In the first nine months of this year, the CPI rose to 5.7 percent from the same period last year, up from 5.4 percent year-on-year in the first six months of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics said, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
The bureau said food prices, which account for nearly one-third of the basket of goods used in the CPI calculation, were up 13.4 percent in September year-on-year, but rose only 1.1 percent from August.
The government has said it wants to keep inflation at 4 percent for this year.
Inflation in the world's second-largest economy remains high despite several measures by the central bank and has become a major concern for policymakers at a time of worsening global economy that threatens China's export-dependent economy.
Canadian manufacturing sales up in August
OTTAWA, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Canadian manufacturing sales reached a 3-year high in August, up 1.4 percent to $47.6 billion, Statistics Canada reported from Ottawa Friday.
It was the second consecutive gain and reached a level last seen in October 2008, the agency said.
"Higher sales were reported in 11 of 21 industries, representing 70 percent of total," the report said.
The transportation sector led, with a 7 percent gain in August, followed by a 3.9 percent increase in the food industry and the petroleum and coal industry reported a 2.7 percent rise.
Among the declines in manufacturing sales were fabricated metal products, which were down by 7 percent and a 2.7 percent decline in primary metal industries, StatsCan said.
Regionally, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador posted a whopping 53.6 percent gain in manufacturing sales in August, based largely on the non-durable goods sector.
Import prices up one tick in September
WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- U.S. import prices rose 0.3 percent in September after falling 0.4 percent in the previous month, the Department of Labor said Friday.
Prices for fuel imports edged up 0.1 percent after dropping 1.8 percent in August and falling in three of the past five months. Non-fuel import prices in September rose 0.2 percent, consistent with the previous two months.
Import prices overall have dropped in three of the past four months, which helps the U.S. Federal Reserve meet its target of keeping annual inflation below 2 percent.
Export prices for September rose 0.4 percent after falling 0.3 percent in July and rising 0.5 percent in August.
Agricultural export prices rose 1.6 percent and non-agricultural export prices rose 0.3 percent in the month, the department said.
Export prices rose 0.2 percent May to June and fell 0.4 percent in June to July.
