Major indices started the day with some strength, but gave up the gains and dipped marginally into the red. This comes as investors assess this morning’s economic data and continue to monitor the Iran Ceasefire.

Five sectors are moving higher, with Technology (XLK) in the lead. The sector is being led higher by semiconductor names, including Nvidia (NVDA), Broadcom (AVGO), and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). However, software is continuing to underperform as investors react to concerns driven by Anthropic’s launch of its Managed Agents Platform. The defensive sector of Consumer Staples (XLP) is lagging, followed by Financials (XLF) which is seeing pressure on asset management and insurance names.

Investors are watching Iran peace talks closely as JD Vance is en route to Islamabad for negotiations. Trump noted that US warships are reloaded and are prepared if talks fail.

This morning, March CPI rose to 3.3% from 2.4% and in-line with expectations as higher oil prices put upward pressure on the reading. However, Core CPI, stripping out energy and other volatile components, only rose marginally to 2.6% from 2.5% and missed the forecasted rise to 2.7%.

Meanwhile, the April Michigan Consumer Sentiment index fell 11% to a historical low of 47.6, missing expectations of 52. However, 98% of survey data was conducted before the ceasefire announcement.

Notable Points:

• Year ahead inflation expectations rose to 4.8% from 3.8%
• 5 year inflation expectations moved higher to 3.4% from 3.2%
• Consumer expectations fell to 46.1 from 51.7
• Current conditions eased to 50.1 from 55.8

In addition, new orders for manufactured goods were unchanged from the prior month in February, above estimates of a 0.2% decline. Orders for durable goods fell 1.3%, offset by a 1.5% rise in nondurable goods. Notably, transportation equipment fell 5.3%, mostly due to a 28.6% decline in non-defense aircraft, but excluding this factory orders rose 1.2% M/M, extending the 0.5% rise in January.

Have a great weekend.