Equities fell hard on Monday with the S&P 500 down nearly 2.0% at the low of the day. The move was driven by the rising fear of inflation and the specter of higher interest rates for business. The good news is that markets bottomed by midday and regained most of their losses by the close of the session. Technically speaking, the S&P 500 formed a stong doji candle confirming support at the 4,600 level and the uptrend that began in October 2021.

This week?s focus is going to be on inflation once again. With the FOMC indicating a faster pace of taper and rate hikes than previously indicated, and JP Morgan Chase CEO Jami Dimon predicting more than 4 rate hikes this year, the CPI and PPI data will be more important than ever. The economists are expecting the pace of inflation to cool on a month-to-month basis but for consumer-level inflation to accelerate to a new high.