April 8 – April 12 Week in Review
The markets were mostly higher last week as a strong earnings report from JPMorgan Chase and the announcement of Walt Disney's upcoming new streaming service helped the broader market overcome weakness from the health care sector.
The S&P 500 increased 0.51%, the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.57%, and the Russell 2000 increased 0.14%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average barely declined, down 0.05%, pulled lower by shares of UnitedHealth and Chevron.
The market was in need of a boost leading up to the start of the first quarter earnings season on Friday. The lack of new catalysts has kept the S&P 500 drifting below the 2900 level, which had been a key area of resistance for the benchmark index. Fortunately for the S&P 500, Friday’s rally provided the strength necessary to finally break, and close, above the level for the first time since early October.
On Friday JPMorgan reported record revenue and net income for the first quarter, handily beating analyst estimates. Disney surged to a new all time high after impressing investors with its new Disney+ streaming service announcement Thursday evening. Also on Friday Chevron announced plans to acquire Anadarko Petroleum for $33 billion, fueling gains in many of the smaller energy companies. Lastly, solid export data out of China for March helped reinforce the idea that the Chinese economy has bottomed.
As for sectors JPMorgan's strong earnings report was a major contributor to the renewed leadership from the financial sector. Disney's 11.5% gain on Friday was an added boost to the outperformance of the communication services sector. On the downside, the health care sector remained out of favor as continued uncertainty about the fate of the Affordable Care Act and increasing threats from lawmakers to curb rising drug costs weighed heavily.
U.S. Treasuries lost ground last week, pushing yields higher across the curve. The 2 year yield increased five basis points to 2.39%, and the 10 year yield increased six basis points to 2.56%.
In other markets the U.S. Dollar Index lost 0.5% to 96.96 and WTI crude rose 1.3% to $63.91 a barrel.
April 15 – April 19 Economic Calendar