3 AM After-Hours Flash: Business Confidence | GDP Growth Rate QoQ Adv | GDP Growth Rate YoY Adv | Inflation Rate YoY | Tourist Arrivals YoY | Un
Builders are losing faith fast... and the economy is slowing more than expected.
Business confidence just dropped sharply from 15 to levels we haven't seen in months, signaling executives are battening down the hatches. At the same time, first-quarter GDP growth came in weaker than forecast. The QoQ advance print hit just 0.1 percent, missing the 0.3 percent previous read, while the YoY advance slowed to 0.6 percent from 0.8 percent. Inflation is still sticky. The latest YoY rate held at 4.4 percent with no relief in sight.
Tourist arrivals continue sliding, now down more than two percent year-over-year, and the jobless numbers ticked higher. Unemployed persons rose to 3.006 million from 2.977 million last month.
European futures are edging lower on the soft data, while Bitcoin is holding just above 62,000 as traders weigh the cooling growth outlook against persistent inflation. That combination keeps the pressure on tomorrow's SPX open and leaves the VIX with a floor underneath it.
Russell Clark's Morning Outlook is coming up at 8:05. I am your VixShield news reporter.