April 12 – April 16 Week in Review
It was a mostly record setting week for the markets last week with the S&P 500, up 1.4%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, up 1.2%, and the Nasdaq 100, also up 1.4%, hitting new all-time highs. The Nasdaq Composite increased 1.1%, and the small-cap Russell 2000 increased 0.9%.
Gains were logged across ten of the 11 S&P 500 sectors, including the utilities, materials, and health care sectors with the biggest gains. The communication services sector was the lone loser amid softness in its largest components.
The key events were as follows – the big banks reported better than expected Q1 earnings reports and issued upbeat commentary, core CPI for March was muted on a year-over-year basis at 1.6%, retail sales surged 9.8% month over month in March, Coinbase became a public company, and federal agencies recommended a pause in Johnson & Johnson's single dose vaccine.
There were a lot of talk surrounding these events, but the takeaway for the market was that the good news was good, and the bad news wasn't bad enough to detract from the good news. To illustrate, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine news was disappointing, but there are plenty of alternatives.
Investors respected the bullish trend (particularly in large cap stocks) despite some concerns and calls for a pullback or consolidation.
In the background, the Fed did what the Fed has done – make sure markets know that it will keep monetary policy accommodative, even as the economy and labor market continue to rebound. Fed Chair Powell added that once substantial progress on its employment and inflation goals has been reached, it will start to taper asset purchases well before it raises interest rates.
The one surprising thing last week was that longer-term interest rates continued their downtrend despite strong economic data. The 2 year Treasury yield was virtually unchanged at 0.157% while the 10 year yield declined ten basis points to 1.57%, including an 11 basis point drop in one day.
In other markets the U.S. Dollar Index fell closing at 91.54, WTI crude rallied closing at $63.07 a barrel and gold moved higher finishing at $1,777.30 an ounce.
April 19 – April 23 Economic Calendar
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