March 29 – April 2 Week in Review
The markets climbed higher last week with the S&P 500, up 1.1%, reaching a new milestone by crossing the 4,000 mark for the first time. The Dow Jones finished marginally higher, up 0.2%, but it also set an all-time high during the week. The Nasdaq Composite was the week’s best performer with a 2.6% gain, while the small cap Russell 2000 also rose, gaining 1.5%.
Growth stocks were the week’s best performers. Cyclical stocks underperformed last week despite the ISM Manufacturing Index for March rising to 64.7% from 60.8% in February and the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index jumping to 109.7 in March from 90.4 in February.
The influential information technology, consumer discretionary, and communication services sectors advanced the most with gains over 2.0%. Conversely, the energy, materials, health care, and consumer staples sectors closed lower.
The week started with Credit Suisse and Nomura warning of potential substantial losses after one of their clients, Archegos Capital Management, defaulted on margin calls and was forced to sell more than $20 billion in stock in the prior week. Contagion effects were quickly dismissed by strategists and several U.S. banks with Archegos exposure said their losses were minimal.
On Wednesday President Biden unveiled a $2.3 infrastructure spending plan that included increases in corporate taxes to help finance the spending. In addition, the White House press secretary said that the administration will seek another stimulus bill after passing the infrastructure plan.
On the interest rate front the 2 year Treasury yield jumped four basis points to 0.189 and the 10 year yield increased two basis points to 1.68%, although it was flirting with 1.78% earlier in the week.
In other markets the U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.2% to 92.90, WTI crude rose slightly finishing at $61.24 a barrel and gold edged slightly lower finishing at $1,730.30 an ounce.
April 5 – April 9 Economic Calendar
PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT A GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS. Investment decisions should always be made based on the client's specific financial needs, goals and objectives, time horizon and risk tolerance. Current and future portfolio holdings are subject to risk. Risks may include interest-rate risk, market risk, inflation risk, deflation risk, currency risk, reinvestment risk, business risk, liquidity risk, financial risk, and cybersecurity risk. These risks are more fully described in Telemus Capital's Firm Brochure (Part 2A of Form ADV), which is available upon request. Telemus Capital does not guarantee the results of any investments. Investment, insurance and annuity products are not FDIC insured, are not bank guaranteed, and may lose value.