US equity markets retreated following a stronger-than-expected March inflation report that prompted federal-funds futures markets to quickly price out rate cuts for the Federal Reserve’s June and July monetary policy meetings - Dow shed -422points or -1.09%, with Home Depot Inc (down -3.00%) and Intel Corp (-2.95%) falling ~3%. Boeing Co fell -1.96% a day after the New York Times reported a whistleblower raised concerns about the safety of its Dreamliner 787s. On the positive side of the ledger, Walmart Inc (up +1.39%) was the strongest performer in the 30-stock index, while Chevron Corp (+0.41%) logged a record closing high (US$162.67).
