The stock market closed higher on Thursday as tech giants rallied. Moreover, investors assessed fresh inflation and labor data as they anticipate a rate cut next week.
August Producer Price Index showed signs of cooling inflationa after it rose 0.2% from last month, slightly higher than expectations.
Overall, S&P 500 grew 0.8% to 5,596, while NASDAQ went up 1.0% to 17,570.
Chart of the Day
Here is the one-year chart of Ecolab (ECL) as of August 12, 2024, when the stock was at $237.
Ecolab saw a 35% increase in profits last quarter as operating income margin continued to expand. Operating income margin increased to 16.5%, up from 12.6% last year. The company made progress towards its 20% operating margin goal, helping it stay on track for long-term earnings growth of 12% to 15%. However, revenue only grew by 3% last quarter. The story here is profits are growing mainly due to margin expansion, but this is already reflected in the stock price.
ECL is part of our Conservative Growth Portfolio.
