The Labor Department reported, at 8:30 a.m. ET, that consumer prices rose 8.4% in 12 months, up from 7.9% in February, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushed gasoline prices to record highs.
Traders have increased bets on big interest rate hikes this year as the conflict in Ukraine, a tight labor market and recent hawkish comments from Fed policymakers boosted commodity prices.
Money markets see a 93.5% chance of a 50 basis point rate hike at the central bank’s meeting next month. [IRPR]
Rate-sensitive banks, such as Wells Fargo & Co, Bank of America Corp and Citigroup Inc, advanced in pre-market trading.
Rising Treasury yields have wreaked havoc on growth stocks in recent weeks, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq down 14.3% year-to-date and leading losses for all three major U.S. indexes.
The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield hit a fresh high above 2.80%, last seen in late 2018, on worries that an aggressive policy response to inflation from the Fed could hurt economic growth. [US/]
As of 6:47 a.m. ET, the Dow e-minis were up 6 points, or 0.02%, the S&P 500 e-minis were up 2.75 points, or 0.06%, and the Nasdaq 100 minis were up 23.75 points, or 0.17%.
