Stocks get off to a modestly higher start to the trading day.
Sentiment was lifted by decreased rate hike expectations and
better-than-expected earnings reports from Best Buy (BBY) and Goldman
Sachs (GS).
Economic news was mixed. May PPI rose a higher than expected amount
due to the spike in energy prices, but core PPI -- which excludes food
and energy -- was in-line with estimates. Separately, the housing
industry is still depressed, but the pace of declines in housing starts
is slowing -- which is a positive for the construction spending portion
of GDP forecasts