Peak inflation

Spurred by Russia’s war on Ukraine and continuing economic fallout from the pandemic, U.S. inflation rose in March by the most since late 1981, reinforcing pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates more aggressively. The main sources of pain during the month were gasoline and food. Though some economic experts contend the current inflation reading of 8.5% is likely its peak, the path down the mountain can’t come soon enough for many consumers. That said, when excluding volatile food and energy components, so-called core prices increased just 0.3% from a month earlier, due in large part to the biggest drop in used vehicle prices since 1969 and a price deceleration in other categories. Used car prices, which had been a driver of higher goods inflation for months, were down 3.8% in March, the second straight monthly decline. The figures are “a welcome respite from the sustained heated core increases of late, and fuel costs look to ease in response to the recent pullback in oil prices,” Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said in a note. But he warned that rent and food will be problems for longer. Here’s your markets wrap. —Margaret Sutherlin

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Vladimir Putin on Tuesday declared peace talks with Ukraine at a “dead end” and vowed to continue his war. As Russian troops and equipment are massed in the eastern part of the country, U.S. officials warned it was likely the eve of a “protracted” and “very bloody phase” of the war. The U.S. along with the European Union and others are doubling down on sending weapons to Ukraine. At the same time, pressure is increasing on India, which has been straddling the fence when it comes to Russia. Western allies want the nation to stop exports to Russia and German officials may decline to invite Prime Minister Modi to the G7 over his government’s refusal to condemn Russian aggression. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy again called for sanctions on Russia to include oil as well as all of its banks. Meanwhile, the U.S. and others are investigating allegations that Putin’s forces used a poisonous substance on the largely destroyed port city of Mariupol.

Officials in Shanghai indicated they were moving to loosen strict Covid-19 restrictions around the financial hub—though the vast majority of its 25 million residents remain locked down. While China struggles to contain its largest outbreak in two years, the U.S. ordered all non-emergency staff at its Shanghai consulate to leave—drawing a rebuke from Beijing.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak will be fined for lying about attending a Downing Street party during Covid lockdown in December 2020. Dubbed “Partygate” by the British press, the big question now is whether the fines will reinvigorate calls from within the ruling Conservative Party for Johnson to resign.

A New York City gunman remains at large after 16 people were injured, including 10 with gunshot wounds, during a chaotic rush-hour attack inside a subway station in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. The incident is not currently being investigated as an act of terrorism, but local officials said they weren’t ruling it out.

Affordable housing isn’t just a problem in America. People who own more than one home account for about one-third of all housing stock in some of Canada’s biggest markets, highlighting how that nation’s real estate boom may be worsening inequality.

A pattern of prescient and potentially very lucrative trading has taken shape in the world of SPACs—and U.S. investigators are suspicious it may point to insider trading.

It’s hard enough to win approval of a new green energy project, let alone trying to install one. The $3 billion TransWest Express would connect a massive new wind farm in Wyoming to the southwestern U.S. It would supply renewable energy to about 2 million customers. But it’s been held up for almost two decades by a lone ranch owner. And a bird.

In 2017, U.K. police made an unusual seizure during a raid: a USB drive wrapped in a small notebook which contained two strings of 12 random words. Inspectors didn’t know it at the time, but it was one of the first cryptocurrency seizures. The qualities that make cryptocurrencies attractive to criminals—they’re easier to hide and ­transfer than many valuable assets—are now challenging law enforcement and leaving cops everywhere scrambling to keep up.

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