Equities wobbled on Thursday after comments from several Fed members and the FOMC meeting minutes pointed to a series of aggressive interest rate hikes. The move put the S&P 500 at the lowest level in three weeks and the selling may not be over even with Thursday's bounce. There are growing indications that economic headwinds worsened in Q1 and will worsen again in Q2. That situation is having a negative impact on guidance and the outlook for earnings growth which is the primary driver of stock market action. while the consensus estimate for Q1 earnings growth continues to rise, it is due entirely to the high price of oil and should be looked at with caution.
The risk for the market next week will be earnings and the economy. Not only is it the start of peak earnings reporting season but the CPI for March is due out as well as retail sales. The CPI is expected to rise from the previous month, the question is by how much and how will it affect the outlook for interest rate hikes?