LSEG The Day Ahead - FJElite

Stocks ended higher as easing geopolitical strains buoyed confidence, with investors turning their focus to upcoming consumer inflation data. Treasury yields slipped after Israel said it would move quickly toward direct negotiations with Lebanon. The dollar softened amid tentative stability in currency trading. Oil prices gave up earlier gains, while gold advanced.

On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department is set to release March consumer price index data, with headline inflation expected to rise 0.9% month on month, following a gain of 0.3% previously. In the 12 months through March, CPI is likely to have risen 3.3%, compared with a 2.4% increase in February. Core CPI is forecast to increase 0.3% on a monthly basis, following February's gain of 0.2%. On an annual basis, it is likely to have risen 2.7%, after increasing 2.5% in the previous month.

Additionally, the U.S. Census Bureau is scheduled to report February factory orders data, which likely declined 0.2% following a marginal increase of 0.1% in January. Separately, the University of Michigan's preliminary reading of the April Consumer Sentiment Index is forecast to come in at 52, down from the previous month's final reading of 53.3. The Treasury Department will also report March's budget deficit, which is expected to have narrowed to $156.75 billion from $308 billion in February.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Court of International Trade will consider the legality of President Donald Trump's latest round of global tariffs, in lawsuits filed by twenty-four U.S. states and two small businesses. The states and small businesses say that the president cannot unilaterally impose tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act, arguing that the law statute allows for tariffs only to address archaic monetary concerns, and not in response to routine trade deficits that occur when the U.S imports more goods than it exports.

In Latin America, Brazil’s Institute of Geography and Statistics is scheduled to release March IPCA inflation data, which are expected to have risen 0.77% on a monthly basis, compared with 0.7% in February. On an annual basis, inflation is likely to come in at 4%, up from 3.81% in February. Meanwhile, in Mexico, the national statistics agency is set to report February industrial output data, which likely rose 0.6% after falling 1.1% in January. On an annual basis, output is expected to have contracted 0.7%, following a decline of 1.1% in the previous month.