EZBites~week ending June 7, 2023
DOW:-2.0% (YTD:+1.8%)
NASDAQ: -0.9% (YTD:+30.5%)
S&P: -1.2% (YTD:+14.6%)
The S&P 500 was down 1.11% last week, the NASDAQ fell 0.91%, and the DJII fell 1.91%.?In general, Value index quadrants performed better than Growth on the week.
Inflation ticked down again last week, which left investors now wondering if the Fed will resume its raising of interest rates in the FOMC meeting a couple of weeks later.
Although last week’s new jobs figure of 209,000 jobs would be excellent in any world economy, it was a relative low as jobs creation had been over 325K over the prior few months.?The unemployment rate ticked down as more 25-50 years olds and women entered the work force.?The jobs numbers indicate that the labor market has remained resilient in the face of the Fed’s efforts to cool it down as a part of its fight against inflation.??
This week on Wednesday, a new CPI report will come out and analysts expect it to come out 0.25% higher than last month’s, which would imply an annual inflation rate of approximately 5% -- which is a huge step in the right direction from the prior 9% readings, but still a far cry from the Fed’s target rate of 2%.?
Overall, analysts seem to be settling on an expectation of two more quarter-point rate hikes before the end of the year.
The S&P Sectors traded in a relatively narrow band last week:?the best performing sector was Real Estate, up 0.2%, and was the only sector in the black.?The worst-performing sectors were Healthcare (-2.8%), Materials (-2%) and Technology (-1.4%).
The yield curve flattened out a bit last week (became less-inverted), with the 2-yr yield rising 7 bp to 4.94% and the 10-year yield rising 25 bp to 4.06%.