After a stellar start to the year for stocks, investors are on guard for potential bumps in the second quarter as they gauge whether the Federal Reserve delivers on an expected interest rate cut by June and turn their focus on the health of upcoming earnings. The S&P 500 ended the first quarter with a gain of more than 10%, its largest first quarter advance since the nearly 13.1% jump in the first quarter of 2019. Whether the rally continues through June will likely depend on the Fed, which has not yet signaled that inflation has come down enough to justify a rate cut.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says the central bank is not growing more tolerant of higher inflation even though the latest policymaker projections raised the inflation outlook for the year without triggering a tougher monetary-policy response. But former Fed officials and other analysts see Powell nevertheless approaching a difficult moment trying to reconcile competing economic risks, a divided group of Fed policymakers, and a public now expecting interest rate cuts to start in June. Upcoming data may well support a June rate reduction if inflation declines convincingly towards the Fed's 2% target between now and then, resuming a trend that encouraged policymakers last year to cap the federal funds rate at the current 5.25%-5.50% and lay the groundwork for easing to begin this year.
One common thread runs between Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun's departure and the death knell for GE next week: Jack Welch. Veteran financial journalist Allan Sloan notes that of the CEOs Welch mentored, four succeeded while 13 failed.
For Tesla, a combination of poor guidance, a tough selling environment in China, and more drama from CEO Elon Musk led the EV maker — which topped $750 billion in market cap to start the year — to shed over $200 billion since Jan. 1.
Symbol | Last Price | Change | % Change |
---|---|---|---|
Symbol | Last Price | Change | % Change |
---|---|---|---|
Symbol | Last Price | Change | % Change |
---|---|---|---|
Symbol | Last Price | Change | % Change |
---|---|---|---|
Symbol | Last Price | Change | % Change |
---|---|---|---|
Symbol | Last Price | Change | % Change |
---|---|---|---|
Symbol | Last Price | Change | % Change |
---|---|---|---|
Symbol | Last Price | Change | % Change |
---|---|---|---|