Welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving markets and the broader economy.
Inflation delivered a jolt in March, with the Fed's preferred price gauge jumping zero point seven percent from February — the sharpest monthly move in three years. Year over year, prices are up three point five percent, driven largely by surging gas costs tied to Middle East tensions, and that's pushing rate cut expectations further out on the calendar.
Meanwhile in tech earnings, investors drew a sharp distinction between two giants raising capital expenditure. Alphabet climbed five percent after its spending plans reassured the street that AI investment is translating into results. Meta fell ten percent on nearly identical news — a reminder that market confidence is about narrative as much as numbers, and right now Meta hasn't sold that story convincingly.
On the labor front, weekly jobless claims dropped to a fifty-seven-year low, underscoring a jobs market that continues to defy expectations. Workers aren't being let go, but new openings remain scarce, painting a picture of an economy that's frozen in place — resilient on the surface, but with less dynamism underneath than the headline suggests.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
