Stocks sagged and bond yields rose ahead of a key reading on inflation due out Wednesday morning. The unofficial start of earnings season later this week – money center banks such as JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Citigroup (C) are set to report – also helped keep a lid on equities.
Markets have essentially traded sideways in the early days of April as market participants recalibrated their bets on when the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates. Although the central bank remains committed to three cuts in 2024, sticky inflation, a robust labor market and strong economic growth have pushed back expectations for when the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Fed's rate-setting group, will start easing.
