April 6 – April 10 Week in review
The stock market rallied last week in holiday shortened trading as investor sentiment continued improving and the Federal Reserve announced more aggressive action. The S&P 500 index rose 12.1%, to 2789.82—its best week since 1974—and finished 25% off its March low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 13%, up 27.8% from its low. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 10.6%, raising it 23% off its low. The Russell 2000 outperformed gaining 18.5% for the week, up 25.7% from its low.
The week’s advance was interrupted by a pullback on Tuesday, but the next two days saw the S&P 500 climb to its best level in nearly a month. All eleven sectors recorded gains of more than 4.5% with real estate, materials, and financials leading the way.
A lot of the market's optimism the past week was due to expectations that the peak of the coronavirus outbreak is imminent as well as a drop in the expected death toll. In addition the latter portion of the week saw more news regarding stimulus plans. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democratic lawmakers that she wants the next spending package to be at least $1 trillion while Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, said that airlines will be the beneficiaries of the next aid package.
On Friday, the Federal Reserve introduced another $2.3 trillion in emergency lending capacity for businesses and municipalities. The central bank will now begin purchasing junk bond ETFs and collateralized loan obligations.
Interest rates were mixed last week with the 2 year Treasury closing at a yield of 0.22%, unchanged from the prior week, and the 10 year Treasury closed at 0.73%, up 14 basis points.
WTI crude closed Thursday at $22.76 a barrel, down almost 20% on the week, as investors weighed reports of an OPEC+ output cut deal that some believe won’t be enough to offset losses in demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic’s hit to the global economy.
In other markets the U.S. Dollar Index closed at 99.48 and gold closed at $1,752.80 an ounce.
Next week will bring the start of the Q1 earnings season with large banks like JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup set to report their results between Tuesday and Wednesday.
April 13 – April 17 Economic Calendar