US indices are flat and volume remains very light

– US indices are flat and volume remains very light in US trading as markets digest various contradictory US economic reports this morning. The July CPI data showed that m/m inflation was flat for a second consecutive month, while y/y inflation increased by the smallest amount in nearly a year and a half. July Industrial production crept higher, while the August NAHB index of builders’ confidence in the market for new homes rose to its highest level since early 2007. However, the NY Fed’s August Empire Manufacturing index contracted in August for the first time since last October. There were also some concerns about Deere’s big earnings miss in the context of the ongoing drought in the US Midwest. In a widely read note out this morning, Goldman Sachs pushed out its expectations for any additional Fed QE measures until late 2012 or early 2013, which seems to further dilute expectations that Bernanke will announce any further easing at the Jackson Hole meeting in two weeks.