After a strong first quarter, where the S&P 500 Index ($SPX) gained 10.2% to notch its best Q1 gain in five years, U.S. stocks have looked weak in April. The sell-off gained traction yesterday, after data showed that the consumer price index (CPI) expanded at an annual pace of 3.5% in March, while the monthly gain was 0.4%.
Both the annual and monthly rise was 10 basis points higher than what analysts were expecting. And that was not all; the minutes of the Fed’s March meeting showed that members want to see more signs of inflation coming down before they start cutting rates.
