(Editor’s note: The future prices of benchmark tracking ETFs, the lede, the economic data and the headline were updated in the story.)
U.S. stocks pared losses to rise on Friday, following Thursday’s advances. Futures of the major benchmark indices were trading higher as Iran blamed Israel for violating the ceasefire with attacks on Lebanon.
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers surged 0.9% in March on a seasonally adjusted basis. This pushed the 12-month unadjusted inflation rate to 3.3%, in line with the estimates.
The core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy costs, posted a milder 0.2% monthly increase and a 2.6% rise over the past year.
The headline spike was heavily driven by a 10.9% surge in the energy index, largely fueled by a massive 21.2% jump in gasoline prices.
Al Jazeera reported that Israel has launched two raids on the towns of Al Shahabiya and Jabal Al Batm in southern Lebanon.
On the other hand, President Donald Trump accused Iran of failing to uphold ceasefire-related expectations tied to oil transit through the Strait of Hormuz. “Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said on Truth Social. “That is not the agreement we have.”
The 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.30%, and the two-year bond was at 3.79%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 98.4% likelihood of the Federal Reserve leaving the current interest rates unchanged in its April meeting.
| Index | Performance (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | 0.01% |
| S&P 500 | 0.08% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 0.15% |
| Russell 2000 | 0.09% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, respectively, were lower in premarket on Friday. The SPY was up 0.19% at $681.20, while the QQQ advanced 0.23% to $611.59.
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