November 16 – November 20 Week in Review
It was a mixed bag for the major averages last week. Cyclical stocks retained their monthly leadership roles following several positive vaccine developments, but the S&P 500, down 0.8%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, lower by 0.7%, finished in negative territory. The small cap Russell 2000 climbed 2.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.2% despite relative weakness in technology stocks.
The S&P 500 energy sector set the performance pace with a 5.0% gain to extend its monthly gain to 23%. The industrials, materials, and financials sectors followed suit, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF were other pockets of strength last week.
The semiconductor space was fueled by news that Taiwan Semi is expanding production capacity to meet high demand from chip companies. The retail space drew support from a host of better than expected earnings reports from retailers like Walmart and Target.
Conversely, the information technology sector was an influential drag on index performance, and the countercyclical utilities, health care, and real estate sectors also declined noticeably.
On the vaccine front Pfizer and BioNTech filed for emergency use authorization for their COVID-19 vaccine after concluding their Phase 3 study, which indicated that their vaccine is 95% effective; Moderna said its vaccine is 94.5% effective; and AstraZeneca and Oxford's vaccine showed encouraging immune responses in older patients in Phase 2 data.
Notable moves last week were Boeing shares gaining 7% in part due to the FAA finally approving the 737 MAX safe to fly again, Tesla shares surging 20% on news it will be added to the S&P 500 on Dec. 21st and Walgreens Boots Alliance shares falling 12% following the launch of Amazon's online pharmacy business.
In the U.S. Treasury market the 2 year yield fell 2 basis points to 0.16% and the 10 year yield fell six basis points to 0.86% amid increased demand despite the encouraging vaccine news.
In other markets the U.S. Dollar index fell slightly closing at 92.40, WTI crude gained almost 5% to close at $42.17 a barrel and gold fell slightly to close at $1,869.60 an ounce.
November 23 – November 27 Economic Calendar