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It’s a shorter week for markets heading into Easter weekend, with U.S. stock exchanges closed a day early on April 15 for Good Friday, also known as “Holy Friday.”
Bond markets, on the other hand, will operate on an abbreviated schedule, closing Friday at 2 p.m. Eastern. That will give traders time to digest a smattering of U.S. economic data due for release before noon, including monthly updates on New York state business conditions and an industrial output reading for March.
But the big focus for investors — and households — heading into the long holiday weekend has been the high cost of living, which climbed six-fold in the past 14 months to an annual rate of 8.5% in March, driven by soaring prices for housing, fuel, groceries, cars and more.
See: Peak inflation? The worst may be over, but Americans likely to keep paying a high price
Russia’s war in Ukraine has added to inflation woes around the globe, with U.S. oil futures
CL.1,
CL00,
this week back near $100 a barrel.
President Joe Biden said Tuesday he will allow high-ethanol blends of gasoline to be sold this summer, typically a heavy driving season, to help offset inflation running at its highest level since 1981.
That’s all to say this Easter holiday comes during a difficult stretch for Wall Street and Main Street, with the S&P 500 index
SPX,
Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
and Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
each down in a range of 5% to 13% so far in 2022, according to FactSet.
Bond markets also have faced a brutal reckoning, with yields on the 10-year Treasury
TMUBMUSD10Y,
climbing near to 2.7%, levels last seen in early 2019. Bond yields move in the opposite direction as prices.
In Europe, stock exchanges will be close on Good Friday through Easter Monday on April 18..
