Does terrifying data add fuel to the AI bull market? U.S. retail sales experience the largest decline in over a year, and interest rate hike expectations take another hit.

TheAPP has learned that the U.S. retail sales data, known as "horrific data," significantly fell short of market expectations, cooling financial market expectations for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates before early 2027. Additionally, the dovish outlook for the Federal Reserve brought about by this "horrific data" has further fueled the recent AI super bull market dominated by the global semiconductor rebound. The latest series of U.S. economic data has clearly shifted the Federal Reserve's monetary policy balance from "must quickly restart the rate hike path" to "the Federal Reserve continues to hold steady (i.e., maintaining interest rates)." The Federal Reserve is no longer facing "overheating demand + inflation accelerating again," but rather inflation remains above target, albeit with marginal cooling, while consumption and employment are beginning to lose momentum.