Soft PPI Supports Breadth While Nasdaq Fades the High and Oil Holds Near $80 — Market Pulse for Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Market Pulse for July 15, 2026: softer producer inflation supports a broader equity tape, Nasdaq fades its morning high, and crude near $80 keeps the inflation victory incomplete.
Soft PPI Supports Breadth While Nasdaq Fades the High and Oil Holds Near $80 — Market Pulse for Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Wednesday's market is getting another cooler inflation signal, but the tape is not treating every risk asset the same way.
By roughly 10:32 a.m. ET, ES futures were near 7,617.50, NQ futures were near 29,745, WTI crude oil was around $79.56, VIX was near 15.90, the 10-year Treasury yield was around 4.557%, and the U.S. dollar index was near 100.802. The broad cash indexes were positive, but Nasdaq futures had already retreated from a morning high near 30,062.50.
The catalyst was the Bureau of Labor Statistics June Producer Price Index release. Final demand prices fell 0.3% month over month, while the measure excluding food, energy, and trade services rose only 0.1%. That is helpful for the inflation argument. The catch is that much of the headline relief came from a sharp decline in June energy prices while today's crude market is still trading near $80.
That gives traders a familiar but important split: backward-looking inflation data cooled, while the live oil market continues to warn that forward pressure has not disappeared.
This is a normal midweek Market Pulse. The weekly expected-move map was shared Monday and the monthly map was shared at the beginning of July. Today's focus is the daily field, with the larger crude-oil bands included only because CL is still trading beyond them.
What You Need To Know Right Now
| Theme | Current Read | Trading Takeaway |
|---|---|---|
| June PPI | -0.3% m/m, +5.5% y/y final demand; +0.1% m/m excluding food, energy, and trade | The producer-price print is softer than the market feared, helping rates and broad equities. |
PonoTrading Team
PonoTrading publishes futures trading education, market structure notes, expected move analysis, and practical indicator workflows for retail traders.
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