Good afternoon and welcome to Markets Desk, your mid-session read on what's moving and why.
The dollar slipped a third of a percent Friday as crude oil dropped more than two percent, pulling inflation expectations lower and softening the case for a hawkish Fed. With price pressures appearing to ease, investors rotated into equities, which added further pressure on the greenback as demand for dollar liquidity faded.
Turning to the consumer, so-called funflation is showing up clearly in spending data. With airfare remaining expensive, Americans are redirecting leisure dollars toward hobbies — arts and crafts, outdoor sports, and similar pursuits. The striking detail here is that even as those hobby costs rise, demand isn't softening. Consumers are absorbing the price increases rather than pulling back, which tells you something real about where discretionary resilience currently sits.
And on the restaurant side, Darden posted steady first quarter revenue growth and held its full-year guidance firm. Strong operating cash flow is keeping its dividend and buyback program intact, which matters to income-oriented holders. The stock pulled back on the print despite the solid numbers, suggesting the market had priced in something more aggressive heading into the report.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
