Last week was another wild ride for the markets, with good inflation figures from March failing to prevent the S&P tanking by 5% before recovering some of its losses on Friday and Monday. Here’s what’s happening this week…

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• Almost 500 companies bring up the rear of Q4 earnings, starting this morning with numbers from two Chinese giants, EV-maker XPeng and multimedia conglomerate Tencent. Wednesday earnings are expected from General Mills and Five Below, followed Thursday by Nike, Micron Technologies, FedEx, Lennar Corporation, and Darden Restaurants. Friday’s only report of note is from Carnival Cruises. *

• Data released Monday show U.S. retail sales remained sluggish in February, amid a broader pullback in consumer spending and overall sentiment tied to the economy. Spending rose 0.2% last month to a tally of $722.7 billion, well below expectations of a 0.6% gain. Still, it was a modest rebound from January’s reading of a revised-downward negative 1.2%. Headline sales, those excluding automobiles, building materials, office supplies, gas-station sales and tobacco, rose 1% on the month, ahead of the Wall Street consensus forecast of a 0.4% gain. **

• When the Federal Reserve concludes its monthly meeting Wednesday, it’s not expected to announce a rate cut, despite recent CPI (Consumer Price Index) numbers indicating a cooling of inflation. As always, the real story will be read between the lines of Chairman Powell’s press conference. Analysts are expecting the central bank to hold off any cut until May, unless prompted sooner by the rising possibility of an economic recession. ***

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