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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Markets climbed nicely last week on the back of earnings, but is there a storm brewing?
Monday
In mixed market activity, the S&P 500 rose 0.3% on the day. Markets opened in the red and managed to climb their way out. The week opened, as many have recently, where the focus was on inflationary pressures. This gave way to earnings, which continue to out-perform. Reporting is still focused on financials but shifting towards technology.
Tuesday
Markets climbed on Tuesday as the S&P 500 added 0.75% on the day. Building permits disappointed on the day, shrinking by 7.7%. Driving markets higher was earnings strength as a much heavier swath of companies reported in comparison to Monday. All major earnings (that came in before close) beat market expectations.
Wednesday
The climb continued on Wednesday with the S&P 500 rising 0.37%. Earnings continued to be in focus as 78% of major reporters beat expectations and 61% beat on revenue. A low percentage of S&P 500 companies have reported, but the season is starting with good strength.
Thursday
Although mild, the S&P 500 managed to rise for the seventh straight session, adding 0.26%. Initial jobless claims fell to their lowest level since the start of the pandemic at 290K. Normal pre-pandemic levels were around 200K. On-going unemployment claims have fallen by about 100K each week over the last 5 weeks. This could mean a strong jobs report for October (released on the first Friday of November).
Friday
Markets opened in the green but reacted adversely to comments from Federal Reserve Board (FRB) chair Powell. He admitted that inflation is persisting longer than the FRB has expected. This admission removes the term transitory from the conversation. The word that the FRB has been feeding markets for about 10 months. He expressed that the expectation is for inflation to begin to pull back to more normal levels late next year. He also indicated that the FRB intends to begin tapering shortly and be completed by the middle of next year. So, that type of accommodation should be fully removed earlier than previously anticipated. This was digested by investors as a more hawkish stance by the FRB.
Conclusion
The S&P climbed fairly nicely across the week courtesy of an earnings season that is starting stronger than expected by investors. The statements by FRB chair Powell may have lasting reverberations into next week. Watch fixed income markets for stress from potential updated expectations for when the FRB may start to raise interest rates. Bank of America has already updated their forecast to late 2022. Additionally, the unresolved debt ceiling still looms large for the third of December…
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