Markets grew for the week for the first time in a month. Is it a reason to celebrate or a breather in the pullback?
Monday S&P 500 0.87% | NASDAQ 1.11%
Nine major companies reported earnings, with two missing expectations. Equities jumped to open the week. Outside of earnings data there was not much to support the rally. It was likely a jump on three consecutive weeks of down market, creating better by opportunities.
Tuesday S&P 500 1.20% | NASDAQ 1.59%
35 major companies reported earnings, with five missing expectations. Housing data came in better than expected. The heavy earnings data drove markets higher on Tuesday, pun intended. GM (GM) and Tesla (TSLA) were among reporters that helped propel markets.
Wednesday S&P 500 0.02% | NASDAQ 0.10%
40 major companies reported earnings, with six missing expectations. Core durable goods orders came in lighter than expected. Strong earnings data was counter-balanced by higher rate expectations. This left markets fairly unchanged.
Thursday S&P 500 0.46% | NASDAQ 0.64%
60 major companies reported earnings, with 13 missing expectations. GDP grew at a much slower pace than expected(1.6% vs 2.5%). Unemployment data continued to show strength. GDP and forward guidance from Meta (META) spooked markets early. They managed to climb halfway out of the hole that was dug as the earnings flowed in throughout the day.
Friday S&P 500 1.02% | NASDAQ 2.03%
13 major companies reported earnings, with five missing expectations. Consumer sentiment softened in April. Core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) held steady at 2.8% in March. This is the Federal Reserve Board’s (FRB) preferred gauge of inflation. Between PCE data and earnings from Alphabet (GOOG) and Microsoft (MSFT) markets surged on the day.
Conclusion S&P 500 2.67% | NASDAQ 4.23%
The markets experienced a strong bounce back this last week in comparison to the last three weeks. Do not be fooled. Markets have a way to go to recapture highs as the growth did not even recover from the prior week. This indicates that there is room for markets to continue the run up as earnings season wears on. There are major hurdles this coming week with the FRB meeting, Jobs data, and Apple (AAPL) reports earnings.
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Markets shed weight on inflation data last week, recovering ground late. What caused this swing?
Monday
Monday’s activity was very much still a reaction to the jobs report released the prior Friday. For most of the day markets floated near the highs only to shed value late. Focus shifted to potential supply constraints as a result of the colonial pipeline (CP) ransomware situation. With that shift in focus, the S&P 500 ended the day down 1%.
Tuesday
The S&P 500 shed another .87% on Tuesday. Job openings increased to 8.1M and the CP pipeline remained out of commission. That closure dominated momentum on the markets. Energy prices soared, but equities as a whole struggled.
Wednesday
Inflation data out Wednesday morning roiled the markets! Markets have been pricing in higher inflation as the re-opening trade has been under way for several months now. The repricing continued Wednesday. Core Consumer Prices (Inflation proxy) jumped from 1.6% in March to 3.0% in April. The strong reading raised concerns that we are about to undergo a wave of high inflation. The S&P 500 fell 2.14%, however the NASDAQ led the losses as 2.65%.
Thursday
Initial jobless claims fell to a pandemic low of 473K. This upbeat reading seemed to allow calmer heads to prevail on Thursday as markets staged a rebound.
Friday
In a move that was clearly ‘bad news is good news,’ weak retail sales allowed markets to close higher. The weaker reading encouraged investors that perhaps April’s inflation reading will not be the norm going forward.
Conclusion
There is much focus on inflation right now. Understandably so, supply lines are choked off, employees are hard to come by, and people are starting to get out and spend money. From the semiconductor shortages, a depleted rental fleet from a sell off during the pandemic, to lumber bottleneck. Every where you turn there is evidence of price hikes. All that said, the inflation concerns do not appear to be long term. As workers come back, supply constraints will improve, and these price increases will likely prove temporary. A sign of prices adapting to current circumstances rather than long term inflation increases.
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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.