Market moves across the month were to the south. Fixed income markets seemed to have a more drastic message on the monitor than that of equities.
Fixed Income: 2-Yr Treas Yield 4.16% | 10-Yr Treas. Yield 4.28%
Bond markets went for a reversal ride in October. After several months of falling rates, we began to see a pullback in the bond market as interest rates rose. The 2-year treasury rose 0.55%, while the 10-year treasury rose 0.54%. The good news is that while rising, the rates did not invert again. The long picture remains intact. We are still in an elevated rate environment with them more likely to drift south rather than north. This move may have been the result of predictions for a potential structure that would mean tariffs. This would reflect a higher inflation potential which would signal a slower path in future rate cuts. Additional good news is that while rates from 6 months on rose, shorter duration rates continued to fall. This bodes well for the normalization of the entire curve.
Equities: Dow Jones 1.34% | S&P 500 0.99% | NASDAQ 0.52%
While it was a down month for equites, the overall move south was not bad for the month. From the top of the market for the S&P 500 (10/18/2024) to the end of the month logged a 2.83%. This proved to be a mild lead up to the beginning of November. The nice part is that while a correction has not materialized, earnings season did, bringing the P/E ratio for the S&P 500 back down to 21.19.
Throughout the month utility stock did well until the last week of the month. A shifting towards Financial and consumer discretionary was underway. Neither of which are surprising given interest rates (favoring financials) and the fact that we are in the fourth quarter… I like to say, ‘Americans spend money they do not have on things they do not need’, AKA: holiday season!
Conclusion
Equities pulled back less than was indicative of the rate move on the bond market. The move there signaled more concern about higher rates for longer than equities chose to price in. The shift in rates seemed like a long-term change in projection, while short rates seemed anchored to FRB actions. The longer rage rates often can be equated to long range GDP expectations. If the view is that we would have stronger forward GDP in 5 years, then we see a stronger 5-year rate.
A Look Ahead…
Market responses in October could have been far more drastic than they were. We should feel fortunate that we got the October that we did. This still leaves a correction (a market fall of 10% to 19%) unattended to. The last one ended 10/27/2023. While stretched P/E’s from over the summer have become more reasonable, that’s been due to strong earnings. Those may continue in the short run, but moving into 2025 those might be harder to come by. It may very well cause a correction in the first half of the year.
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Weakness persisted in the market across last week. Is this a trend that will likely continue or a soft patch in data?
Monday
Happy President’s Day!
Tuesday
Markets were flat to open the week. This was not the case for the energy sector, however, as energy added 2.51% on Monday. Much of the energy move came from the harsh winter storm and elevated energy usage information that should follow. Financials and communications were the only other sectors in the green for the day.
Wednesday
The day started lower and spent the trading day pulling out of the hole. It ended the day even. There was unexpected strength in producer prices (a leading indicator of inflation), retail sales, and capacity utilization (an indicator of corporate production).
Thursday
Much like Wednesday, Thursday opened in a hole and spent much of the day climbing out. Markets did not make it all the way out, however. Housing data and jobs data were both in focus. Building permits rose more than expected, however new starts decreased substantially. Jobless claims, a major focus right now rose more than expected. The weakness of data led to a softer market for the day. As of late this would have caused a market rise as it would have increased the likelihood of stimulus. Perhaps that is a foregone conclusion at this time.
Friday
Services data and existing home sales both impressed for Friday. Markets opened in the green but were unable to hold the momentum. They faded to breakeven and fell into the red to end the week. Signaling an indication of concern for the weekend news cycle.
Conclusion
Investor behavior throughout the week seemed to signal initial concerns, but with persistent buying. Across the week markets ended up shedding 0.72%. This was not much of a move. Buy sentiment persisted even in the face of weak economic data last week. Overall data has shown to be improving quicker than expected. This should lend itself to a continued rally.
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