Stocks Slide, Bitcoin Surges After Hot Inflation Data; EV Stocks Mixed on Hertz Cuts, Lucid and Tesla News
• U.S. stocks struggled on Thursday after hotter-than-expected consumer inflation data • Bitcoin briefly topped $49K after SEC approval of spot bitcoin ETFs • December CPI rose 0.3% monthly, higher than estimates, but inflation slowing on annual basis • Markets pricing in 67% chance of 0.25 percentage point Fed rate cut in March • EV stocks in focus after Hertz cutting EV fleet, Lucid hitting record low despite delivery beat, and Tesla notifying workers of pay hikes