July 22 – July 26 Week in Review
The stock market marched higher last week helped by upbeat corporate earnings results and an encouraging first look into second quarter GDP. The S&P 500, up 1.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite, up 2.3%, set new record highs in the process. The Russell 2000 also advanced, up 2.0%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased just 0.1%, undercut by a decline in the shares of Boeing.
The S&P 500 communication services sector was last week's top performer, driven by shares of Alphabet. Alphabet handily beat expectations and as a result shares climbed more than 10% on Friday. The financials and information technology sectors also finished higher last week, while the energy and utilities sectors finished lower.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (PHLX) remained on a tear, rising 4.6% last week on positive commentary out of Goldman Sachs, upbeat earnings results from Texas Instruments, and news that the U.S. will head to China this week to continue trade talks. For the year, the PHLX is now up 38.0%.
More than 40% of S&P 500 companies have now released their earnings reports, according to FactSet, and most of the news continued to come in better than expected.
Also last week the Department of Justice announced a broad antitrust review into the "market-leading online platforms". Investors didn't appear too concerned about the regulatory overhang, though, amid the positive mood in the market. Investors, however, were less pleased with tepid revenue guidance from Facebook and a profit miss from Amazon.
On the data front, the advance estimate for second quarter GDP increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.1%. Although the growth rate was lower than the 3.1% recorded in the first quarter, strong consumer spending helped the economy grow better than expected.
U.S. Treasuries ended last week little changed, leaving yields at relatively low levels that continued to favor risk assets. The 2 year yield increased three basis points to 1.87%, and the 10 year yield remained unchanged at 2.08%.
In other markets WTI crude advanced 1.0% to $56.19 a barrel and the U.S. Dollar Index advanced 0.9% to 98.01.
July 29 – August 2 Economic Calendar