With yesterday’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) statistics showing that inflation is heating up faster than predicted, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard stated that in order to combat inflation, the Fed may have no choice but to raise interest rates more aggressively in the future.

Stocks in the United States were neutral, but bond rates increased further, showing market nervousness about interest rate rises in the face of solid corporate results and a possible easing of geopolitical tensions.

Zillow Group Inc. (Z) shares are up nearly 10% after the online real estate company reported revenue that exceeded expectations and provided an upbeat forecast, while the yield on the 10-year Treasury note reached 2.03 percent, the highest level since August 2019. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note reached 2.03 percent, the highest level since August 2019.

The Market Movers of Today

European equities recovered some of their losses as the majority of U.S. indexes rose. The United Kingdom stated that its GDP increased by 7.5 percent last year, reversing a 9.4 percent decline in the previous year. Stocks in Asia were also down, as was the Dow.

Later this morning, the University of Michigan will issue its preliminary Consumer Sentiment Index for February, which will be released in the afternoon. The consensus forecast is for a value of 67.5, which is about in line with the result from January. Consumers’ predictions of future inflation, as well as increasing housing expenses, drove the survey’s result in January to its lowest level since November 2011.

Following the release of earnings results, shares of Apollo Global Management Inc. (APO), Dominion Energy Inc. (D), Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (CLF), and Under Armour Inc. (UA) all declined in value.

After dipping below $90 a barrel the previous day, oil prices had risen again. After seven consecutive weeks of increases, light sweet crude oil is expected to see its first weekly loss. When compared to the euro, the dollar was stronger.

Cryptocurrencies as a whole were down somewhat, while Bitcoin was up.

A quick rundown of today’s headlines

According to The Wall Street Journal, Comcast Corporation’s (CMCSA) NBCUniversal is close to finalizing a contract to transfer programming from Hulu to its Peacock streaming platform. Hulu is jointly owned by NBCUniversal and Disney (DIS), and this is the latest step towards the dissolution of that relationship.

A committee of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided against Eli Lilly’s (LLY) cancer medication because of concerns regarding studies that were exclusively done in China. The committee said that the trial population, which consisted mostly of Asian males, did not adequately reflect the variety of patients in the United States who might benefit from the monoclonal antibody medication sintilimab.

The stock of Affirm (AFRM) has plummeted after the business unintentionally revealed some important financial figures too soon on Twitter. Initially, shares of the “buy now, pay later” firm soared after the announcement, but then sank when the company’s full-year results revealed a larger loss in the first quarter, raising worries about its profit margins and forecasts.

According to a message sent to employees, Amazon Inc. (AMZN) is relaxing its mask requirements for warehouse workers and altering its paid time off regulations for sick leave. Following the significant surge in popularity of the omicron variety, Amazon started requiring masks for all workers in December of last year.

Zendesk Inc. (ZEN) has rejected a buyout bid from a private equity group for $16 billion in cash and stock. The software business has been under intense pressure to cancel its $4 billion purchase of the parent company of online survey firm SurveyMonkey, which was announced earlier this year.

As reported by the American Gaming Association, an all-time high of 31.4 million Americans expected to wager on the Super Bowl, representing a 35 percent increase over last year’s event. In this year’s game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams, bettors are predicted to wager almost $8 billion, representing a roughly 80 percent increase over the previous year, as more states allow sports betting in their jurisdictions.

The Big Story: The Federal Reserve’s Conundrum

The surprisingly substantial increase in consumer prices in January has contributed to the ongoing discussion over whether the Federal Reserve should be more active in its battle against inflation in the coming months.

Trader wagers that the Federal Reserve will have to start its expected March interest rate rise with a half-percentage-point increase rather than a quarter-percentage-point increase as a result of the data increase. Because of the January data, trader bets on the potential of a 50 basis-point hike in March increased to roughly 90 percent of the total amount wagered. The Federal Reserve will meet on March 15 and 16, and one more CPI data will be released before then.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) now predicts that the Federal Reserve will have to raise interest rates seven times this year, up from its earlier prediction of five rate rises this year. Citigroup Inc. (C) now expects the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates by 50 basis points at its meeting in March.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell did not rule out a half-point increase in the interest rate during his most recent news conference in January. Other Federal Reserve officials, on the other hand, were less aggressive in their remarks yesterday.

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Conclusions

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