Markets Have Passed Their First Earnings Test, Now Comes Tech

U.S. stocks caught a break this week—and found a window in which to exploit it over the next two weeks—as inflation data suggest a taming of Federal Reserve rate-hike bets and the outlook from a key player in the market for artificial intelligence outpaced Wall Street’s forecasts. Tuesday’s inflation data got the ball rolling, with the softest monthly print since the Covid-19 pandemic and annual gains that fell shy of Wall Street estimates cratering bets on a July Fed rate hike.