Welcome to Markets Desk, here's what's moving the needle this Thursday.
The April inflation print just landed and it's not pretty. The Personal Consumption Expenditures index climbed to three point eight percent year over year, the hottest reading since May of two thousand twenty three. Monthly prices rose zero point four percent, driven by gas and food costs, and this is the first major inflation report released under incoming Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, which means the political and policy pressure on the central bank just got considerably more complicated.
Shifting to the tech and trade space, Supermicro is now working directly with Taiwanese authorities to prevent the illicit diversion of its server technology. The company says it's been actively cooperating with officials on a recent incident, and given the sensitivity around high-performance server hardware and export controls, this is the kind of compliance story that investors in the AI infrastructure space need to watch closely.
And rounding out the session, European travelers are already feeling the friction of the EU's new Entry Exit System, a biometric border tracking program that's generating lines of up to three hours at major airports. With peak summer travel season approaching, the operational strain on border checkpoints could have real ripple effects on transatlantic passenger volumes and airline scheduling.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
