Inflation Data

On Friday, Federal Reserve policymakers were confronted with unexpectedly strong economic data, which further bolstered the case for implementing stricter monetary policies to tackle persistently high inflation. The 0.8% surge in consumer spending last month, compared to March, brought positive news suggesting that the economy is not on the verge of a recession. However, this presented a dilemma for policymakers who were hoping for a slowdown that could alleviate the pressures of inflation. Moreover, the underlying core inflation rate climbed to 4.7% in contrast to March’s 4.6%, underscoring the ongoing challenges faced by the Fed in their battle against inflation, as the central bank’s target inflation rate is 2%.

NVIDIA Market Value Approaches $1 Trillion

A hot topic in the last few days has been about Nvidia, and how the chip makers’ shares closed at a record high on Thursday, adding nearly a quarter of its market value. The stock ended up 24.4%, which is the largest one-day percent increase for NVIDIA since 2016. The increase comes from the rise of AI Tools and an increase in demand for computing power. Nvidia’s chips are key for AI tools and thousands of Nvidia’s computing engines can go into making these AI systems. With that in mind, Nvidia has further strengthened its position in its segment, and analysts are saying that they are among the best positioned to benefit from the rise of AI.