Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street brunch, our Sunday look ahead to this

week's market-moving events along with the weekend's top news and analysis.

Hello today is Sunday April 7th and I'm your host Kim Khan.

The top stories to look out for.

Macro Focus will be on the March Consumer Price Index which hits on Wednesday.

Economists expect that the headline number was 0.3% on the month, pushing the annual rate up to 3.4%

from 3.2%. The Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, is forecast to have risen 0.3% as well, with the annual rate ticking down to 3.7%.

The last time we got CPI figures, Fed Funds futures were pricing in a 70% chance of a rate cut in June.

Those odds are now down to 50-50 following the stronger than expected rise in March non-farned payrolls.

Wells Fargo economists say that while their base case is for a hundred basis points of cuts

this year, risks are skewed towards less easing rather than more, and the CPI and the

Employment Cost Index at the end of the month will provide evidence that a healthier balance between supply and demand in the labor market is translating to lower inflationary pressures.

Returning inflation back to 2% for the long haul remains the Fed's primary concern

and it will take at least a little more progress on the inflation front before the first rate

cut occurs they add.

But based on what we know now, the strength of the labor market suggests the FOMC can continue

to await further improvement on the inflation front before easing policy.

Meanwhile, the big banks kick off earning season at the tail end of the week.

Friday will see J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Blackruck, and Citigroup all issue results pre-market.

Analysts have noted that investment banking came back strong in Q1, with high yield issuance,

leverage loans indications, and equity underwriting volumes all at their highest level since

Q4 of 2021.

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