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U.S. producer prices fell in May after two month of solid gains, but the decline was not enough to change perceptions that inflation pressures are steadily creeping up. The Labor Department said on Friday its producer price index for final demand slipped 0.2 percent after advancing in April by 0.6 percent, which was the largest gain in 1-1/2 years. Economists, who had expected producer prices to edge up, saw the decline as a correction after gains in March and April, and said it did not change their view that prices were firming.   true       "The net result is a pick-up. The net strengthening makes the modest acceleration in the more important consumer inflation measures more credible," said Jim O'Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, New York. The government revamped the PPI series at the start of the year to include services and class="mandelbrot_refrag"> construction . Big swings in prices received for trade servi

U.S. consumer sentiment fell in June as views by consumers with the lowest incomes soured, a survey released on Friday showed. _0"> The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary June reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 81.2, down from 81.9 the month before. It was below the median forecast of 83.0 among economists polled by Reuters.   true       "The change from May was too small to indicate a significant loss in sentiment," survey director Richard Curtin said in a statement. "The small month-to-month variations aside, the main finding from the recent surveys is that consumers have maintained their expectations at reasonably favorable levels for the past six months." The survey's barometer of current economic conditions rose to 95.4 from 94.5 and was below a forecast of 95.7. The survey's gauge of consumer expectations slipped to 72.2 from 73.7, and missed an expected 74.6. The survey's one-year

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will meet its 2014 targets even though the Brazilian car market is set to remain difficult and Europe is showing no sign of improvement, Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said on Friday. _0"> "At the group level, we'll achieve them. This is not a problem," Marchionne told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Venice. Asked about a possible stabilisation of the situation in class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Brazil , he said: "Fiat will maintain its market share in the ups and downs. We expected it to be a difficult year. We see a difficult year until the elections."   true       "The World Cup is distracting everyone but elections are the real problem," he added. A sluggish class="mandelbrot_refrag"> economy , expiring tax breaks and weak exports have put the brakes on Brazil's car industry, stoking fears of lay-offs in an election year. Marchionne said he saw no sign of changes in th

A senior U.S. Treasury official on Friday rejected calls to recapitalize class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Fannie Mae and class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Freddie Mac , saying it would take at least 20 years to make sure they were adequately funded and that in the meantime taxpayers would be on the hook. _0"> In remarks to a housing conference, Treasury Undersecretary Mary Miller repeated the Obama administration's call that the two so-called government-sponsored enterprises be wound down. "Critics of reform would suggest that we can simply recapitalize the GSEs and avoid difficult decisions around creating a new system," she said. "Even if truly rehabilitating the GSEs were possible, recapitalizing them adequately would take at least 20 years."   true       "During these 20 years, the taxpayer would remain at risk of having to bail out the GSEs during another downturn," Miller added class="mandelbrot_refrag"&g

U.S. stocks edged higher on Friday, boosted by bullish corporate news from the tech sector, though major indexes remained on track to snap a multi-week string of weekly gains. _0"> While the market's recent trend upward was considered intact, broader gains were hard to come by with major indexes within striking distance of record levels amid ongoing violence in class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Iraq , which has taken oil prices to their highest since September. Intel Corp was both the class="mandelbrot_refrag"> S&P 500's biggest gainer and the Nasdaq's most active name, jumping 6.2 percent to $29.70 a day after the class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Dow component raised its full-year revenue outlook, citing stronger-than-expected demand for personal computers used by businesses.   true       "The market isn't cheap, but it isn't crazy expensive and the sectors that are looking better are cyclical in nature," sa

In a product recall that echoes the one that has plunged General Motors Co GM.N into a safety crisis, the automaker on Friday said it will recall 511,528 current model Chevrolet Camaro cars, mainly in North America, to correct an issue with the ignition switch. GM said a driver's knee can bump the key fob and move the ignition switch out of the "run" position, causing the engine to shut off. Earlier this year, GM recalled 2.6 million small cars worldwide because of an ignition switch failure in which a bump of the key fob can turn off the engine, disabling power steering and airbags. That defect was not reported to consumers for years and has been linked to at least 13 deaths and caused a re-examination led by Chief Executive Mary Barra of how the company handles safety recalls.   true       But GM said the new recall, affecting Camaros of model years 2010 to 2014, is not like the one involving older-model Chevrolet Cobalt and Saturn Ion cars. "It's not at