TheStreet’s J.D. Durkin brings the latest business headlines from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as markets close for trading Thursday, March 21.
Full Video Transcript Below:
J.D. DURKIN: I’m J.D. Durkin - reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Markets saw a nice pop during intraday trading Thursday as the tech sector led stocks higher. Shares of Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta all saw gains.
Investors are continuing to react to comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell that the central bank would likely cut interest rates three times before the end of 2024. Markets are now pricing in a 70 percent chance of an interest rate cut as soon as June.
In other news, companies across the U.S. will likely see productivity plummet over the next couple of weeks, and they have only one thing to blame: March Madness. According to WalletHub, corporate losses are expected to total more than $17 billion due to unproductive workers during the NCAA Tournament.
The average worker will spend 7 hours watching college hoops during its duration, with 26 percent of Americans saying they’re prepared to skip work altogether in order to watch. And if employers want to keep workers happy while they are working - they should lean into the madness. Seventy-eight percent of employees said celebrating the tournament at work helps to boost morale - and 39 percent said they became closer with a coworker after participating in an office pool.
However, if you think you can show off to your team by picking the perfect bracket - you won’t. The odds of making every correct selection are 1 in 9.2 quintillion. To put that in perspective, you have better odds of winning back-to-back lotteries, buying just a single ticket for each drawing.
That’ll do it for your daily briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m J.D. Durkin with TheStreet.
