Inflation dropped to 3.4 per cent in April, resulting in speculation that the Fed will be encouraged to reduce rates at some point this year. The S&P 500 ended the day with a 1.2 per cent increase. The Nasdaq Composite, which is heavy on tech listings, climbed 1.4 per cent with a rally of “meme stocks” including GameStop and AMC.
The rally came as the US labour department released its latest consumer price index data, which was in line with expectations. Inflation fell slightly to 3.4 per cent in April from the 3.5 per cent of the previous month. This resulted in traders in the futures market pricing in the possibility that there would be two rate cuts this year, up from the one to two cuts they had previously expected.
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China’s largest state-owned banks have begun issuing their first TLAC bonds, with…
