French Elections ignited global stock market rally, Panera Bread Co will be expanding delivery service, Atlanta Fed has GDP falling
April 24, 2017
The French elections on Sunday ignited a global Stock market rally deemed as a pro-Euro vote. French candidate Emmanuel Macron and Marie Le Pen will now advance to a run-off, with Macron seen as the likely to prevail against Le Pen. Macron is a former banker and looks to make big cuts in corporate taxes and to cut into the high jobless rate, all of which are being embraced by Stocks. In addition, President Trump is expected to announce his plan on tax cuts on Wednesday and said on Friday that the plan will include a “massive” tax cut for individuals and corporations. This is also helping to boost Stocks here in the U.S.
The U.S. job market will receiving a boost after Panera Bread Co. said it will be expanding its delivery service and will hire 10,000 drivers by the end of 2017. The delivery plans will be available in nearly 40% of stores across the nation. The deliveries will encompass lunch and dinner between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. seven days a week with a $5 minimum purchase and a $3 fee tacked on top of the order. Panera operates 2,000 stores throughout the U.S. and Ontario, Canada.
There are no economic reports due for release today, but the rest of the week we will see data on housing, Consumer Confidence and Sentiment, manufacturing and the closely watched Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Q1 2017. The Atlanta Fed has GDP falling to an anemic 0.5%, not a good number for the Fed members in their quest to raise rates in the near future. Fed Fund Futures show no chance of a hike to the benchmark short-term Fed Funds Rate in May and a 53% probability in April.
