Last Week’s Summary
- S&P 500 Index rose 1.60%
- International Equities rose 1.93%
- Emerging Markets rose 2.72%
- U.S. 10-Year Treasury Yield fell to 4.42%
- Consumer Price Index fell to 3.4% YoY
- Initial Jobless Claims fell to 222k
- Retail sales fell to 0.0%
What to Watch for This Week
- W, 5/22/24 Existing Home Sales, FOMC Meeting Minutes
- Th, 5/23/24 Initial Jobless Claims, New Home Sales, S&P Global U.S. Manufacturing PMI
- F, 5/24/24 Durable Goods Orders, U. of Mich. Sentiment
Weekly Market Recap
This week marked a historic milestone as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a key Index of American blue-chip stocks, closed above 40,000 for the first time in its 128-year history – a milestone that came as the bull market powered ahead.
Following inflation reports that reignited hopes for Federal Reserve rate cuts, stocks notched their longest weekly winning run since February. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), a widely followed benchmark for inflation, fell to 3.4% year-over-year.
Federal Reserve officials kept their benchmark rate steady earlier this month at a target range of 5.25% to 5.5%, the same level it’s been at since July. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that officials will “need to be patient and let restrictive policy do its work.” Strong earnings have also fueled gains.
Analysts have ratcheted up earnings forecasts for the current quarter at the swiftest pace in two years, suggesting that the worst of the U.S. profit slump may be firmly in the rear-view mirror.
Investor sentiment hit levels that signal market “euphoria,” driven by a spike in trading volumes amid rallies earlier this week in meme stocks like GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.
Download Market Snapshot May 20, 2024
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