Goldman Sachs slashed U.S. first-quarter GDP growth to -0.8%.

The US goods trade deficit widened more than expected in March, according to a new Goldman Sachs research report. Goods imports and exports both grew in March. The widening trade deficit was mainly due to an increase in imports of consumer goods, which may reflect the "rush" of imports ahead of the tariff hike. Details of the leading economic indicators report show that import growth was significantly stronger than our previous GDP tracking assumptions, but export growth was modestly stronger and inventory accumulation accelerated. Overall, we lowered our US Quarter 1 GDP tracking forecast by 0.6 percentage points to -0.8% (quarter-on-quarter annualized). US GDP data will be released on the evening of the 30th.