There was an onslaught of data last week, which led to gains. Should more be expected with the coming earnings season?
Monday S&P 500 0.27%| NASDAQ 1.09%
ISM Manufacturing unexpectedly slipped and remains in contractionary territory. The weaker economic data would typically signal lower rates as rate cut expectations would increase. To the contrary, 10-year treasuries rose on the day. In the face of weak economic data, the start of the quarter brought optimism towards the next three months.
Tuesday S&P 500 0.62% | NASDAQ .84%
JOLTs job openings rose more than expected to 8.14M openings. For perspective, there were 6.6M unemployed as of the May report. The strong jobs data did not deter markets, though; this may be because the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) Chair, J. Powell, spoke on the day. He indicated that progress is being made towards their inflation target. This is the ‘secret sauce’ needed to justify future rate cuts.
Wednesday S&P 500 0.51% | NASDAQ 0.88%
Initial jobless claims rose for the week to 238K from 234K; the level remains elevated, albeit from all-time lows. Factory orders unexpectedly slipped into the negative on the month. Additionally, ISM Services unexpectedly slipped into contractionary territory. This is all bad news for economic production, so why did the markets rise? Interest rates fell as this data increases the likelihood that the FRB will lower rates sooner than expected. The heightened odds are now calling for a .25% cut in September and December, according to CME FedWatch.
Thursday S&P 500 -% | NASDAQ -%
Happy Independence Day!
Friday S&P 500 0.54% | NASDAQ 0.90%
Happy Jobs Friday! The unemployment rate rose to 4.1%, Nonfarm payrolls beat expectations, and participation rose to 62.6% from 62.5%, all for June. The unemployment rate went up even though we added 206K jobs??? Participation went up so, with more people in the market, the rate can go up even as jobs are added. This is a positive signal that workers are returning to the work force. The rise on equity markets, however, was on hopes that economic weakness would be enough for an FRB rate cut.
Conclusion S&P 500 1.95% | NASDAQ 3.55%
This was a busy week for economic data, especially for a holiday shortened week. We got weaker Jobs, manufacturing, Services, and Factory orders. The weakness led to stronger markets on hopes the FRB will cut rates BEFORE a recession can materialize. The coming week starts second quarter earnings. Valuations are stretched (S&P 500 P/E: 28.94) and economic production is weak, very little should be expected from this season. This could be the start of volatility that would lead into the Autumn.
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It was a wild ride last week. As it came to a close, markets were pointing north, but will this endure?
Monday
Markets opened the week sharply lower on Monday, with all major equity indices losing around 2% on the day. This brings the S&P 500 fall from peak, now 4.5%. This came as concerns worsened that a default by China’s Evergrande was likely on Thursday.
Tuesday
The S&P 500 came out of the gates hot as buyers attempted to ‘buy the dip’. This did not last though as markets faded into the close and the S&P 500 managed to end breakeven. Typically, it is a good sign to see investors buy back half the losses from the prior day. As it shows a purchasing appetite. That lack of appetite may be a waning after a summer of feasting.
Wednesday
Markets rose beyond VIX expectations on Wednesday. This came as Evergrande came to a deal that would help them avoid defaulting on Thursday. Additionally, the Federal Reserve bank (FRB) completed their two-day meeting. Dot plots show increased risk of rate increases in 2023. The FRB also announced that they will begin tapering later this year. In prior meetings they stated they will be discussing it, so this is a dramatic shift.
Thursday
The rise continued through Thursday as investors appeared to applaud the FRB’s effort to tighten monetary policy… Not a sentence I ever expected to write. What it does, however, is set expectations and create predictability.
Friday
The Markets ended the week mixed. The S&P 500 rose, however capping a very active week for the market. In what was a busy week for housing, we learned that new home sales rose 1.5% for August on Friday.
Conclusion
This last week started with a gash to the bottom line as markets opened the week sharply lower. Clawing its way back into the green, the S&P 500 actually rose by 22 points (or 0.5%) for the week. Regardless of how the numbers ended for the week, volatility is notably higher the last few weeks. We started the month at 16 and have ranged between 18 and 26 in September. The month is not over and more may be on tap as focus on the debt ceiling heats up.
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Any and all third-party posts or responses to this blog do not reflect the views of the firm and have not been reviewed by the firm for completeness or accuracy.