The stock market was presented with positive economic news early Thursday… and promptly fell to the downside.

Just another day in an uncertain environment where the market reacts unexpectedly and struggles to hold a direction past the latest headline.

Traders must digest market fluctuations and proceed carefully.

Retail sales up, strike avoided… market falls

Higher retail sales numbers and a likely avoided national railway worker strike didn’t appear to be what the market wanted to hear today.

High inflation – holding at a 40-year high – didn’t stunt retail sales in August which came in higher by .3%, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. This beat analyst expectations of flat sales and revised data showing retail sales falling in July by .4%.

Total sales for the June, 2022 through August, 2022 period were up 9.3% from the same period a year ago, the department stated.

Railroad companies and union workers announced a tentative labor agreement that threatened to shut down the freight railway system (and some passenger rails) and possibly cause nationwide supply chain problems. A strike was set to hit this weekend, and one union with almost 5,000 workers is still holding out with strike plans delayed until Sept. 29.

The stock market reacted to the early morning news of retail sales and the railways by starting positive before sinking through late morning trading. All three major indexes flipped to the downside with the Nasdaq giving up more than 1% by midday.

In the mix of news Thursday were reports of declining gasoline prices, falling initial state unemployment claims, and mortgage interest rates topping 6% on average.

Adding more down assets – gold, cryptocurrency, oil – and the market was having a nasty morning.

Simpler’s traders are proceeding with caution as the market grapples with the onslaught of news events and price fluctuation across the board.

More volatile is likely as options triple witching hits the end of this week and the Federal Reserve is set to raise benchmark interest rates at its meeting next week on Wednesday.