Consumer prices rose more than expected, according to March’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), as Federal Reserve officials are closely watching the US inflation rate as they debate when and how many interest rate cuts they should implement. In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said his outlook on rate cuts will be heavily dependent on forward data.
Delta Air Lines (DAL) topped first-quarter earnings estimates with CEO Ed Bastian attributing this to a resurgence in corporate travel.
Shares of chip giant Nvidia (NVDA) are in correction territory, falling from record highs while still maintaining over 70% in year-to-date stock gains in 2024.
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Editor's note: This article was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.
Video Transcript
BRAD SMITH: Three things that you need to know, your roadmap for the trading day. Yahoo Finance's Jennifer Schonberger, Jared Blikre, and Madison Mills have more.
JENNIFER SCHONBERGER: Futures down this morning after the consumer price index clocked in hotter than expected, fanning fears that the Federal Reserve could scale back the number and timing of interest-rate cuts this year. The so-called core CPI, which excludes those volatile food and energy prices, clocked in at 3.8% for the month of March, holding the same level as February.
Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic told me in an interview on Tuesday that if inflation were to stall or the economy were to accelerate, that could mean pushing out the possibility of rate cuts this year.
RAPHAEL BOSTIC: And at this point, I think it's 1. But as months pass, I may move to 2, or I might move to 0. And we'll just have to see where the chips fall.
JENNIFER SCHONBERGER: Investors now pricing in a nearly 70% chance that the Federal Reserve will not cut rates in June.
JARED BLIKRE: Plus, Delta Air Lines' first-quarter results flew over Wall Street expectations. The airline's strong results were driven by a resurgence in corporate travel as more consumers look to book flights. Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian also sees an uptick in travel demand in the spring and summer.
ED BASTIAN: This year to date, we've seen the 11 highest sales days in our company's history. That's a strong predictor that spring-summer season is going to be quite healthy on the travel side.
JARED BLIKRE: Delta is the first airline to report first-quarter earnings for 2024.
MADISON MILLS: Shares of NVIDIA are falling as the AI darling enters correction territory there. That means the stock is down 10% from its all-time high. But shares of NVIDIA still surging. Of course, if we look at the year-to-date returns, it's at 72% for the year, but looking like it's down a little over 2% in the premarket this morning.