US stocks inched higher boosted by strong industrial production figures, but soft guidance from FedEx and weak housing starts data weighed on sentiment.
Housing starts came in at an annualised 593000 last month, far below analysts’ expectations of 68000 Building permits also missed expectations. US producer prices fell by 0.3% last month, less than the 0.5% decline analysts had expected on average.
At midday, the S&P 500 was up by 0.1% at 1116.68, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 10409.08 and the Nasdaq Composite had risen by 0.3% to 2312.37.