Midday market 04/14: Retail data clearly shows pressure on consumers

Market slightly down in the week's final trading session as FED shows no softening under pressure from macroeconomic indicators. Retail sales growth drops sharply while consumer inflation forecasts are not optimistic, weighing heavily on investor sentiment this morning. Specifically, March retail sales fell -1.0% month-over-month, much steeper than the expected -0.4% decline, pulling annual retail sales growth down to just +2.94%, the lowest since 06/2020 and half the expected +5.9%.