Stocks posted a strong first quarter, with the S&P 500 market-cap weighted index returning 10.6%. The S&P 500 equal-weighted index gained 7.9%, demonstrating broad-based gains across individual stocks. AI-related stocks continued to lead the rest of the market. The Federal Reserve decided to maintain the benchmark interest rate range of 5.25%-5.5% at their March meeting. […]
Continue Reading ›February 2024 Monthly Market Update
U.S. stock markets finished higher in February, with the S&P 500 +5.2% for the month. Gains were driven by the underlying strength of the economy evidenced by economic data and better-than-expected earnings results, expectations for interest rates, and hype surrounding Artificial Intelligence. In terms of the broader economy, jobs and growth data remain strong, and […]
Continue Reading ›January 2024 Monthly Market Update
The first month of 2024 echoed the prevailing narrative of late 2023, characterized by moderating inflation, a resilient economy, and the anticipation of imminent interest rate cuts, driving U.S. stock indices to new record highs. Despite suffering its worst single-day loss since September on the final day of the month, triggered by Big Tech earnings […]
Continue Reading ›December 2023 Monthly Market Update
The end of the year always seems to be when pundits and forecasters come out with a bevy of predictions. We’ll highlight the positives and negatives for markets in the year ahead, but first, let’s have a look at the past year. Coming into 2023, markets faced a general pessimism. Reuters polls of economists put […]
Continue Reading ›November 2023 Monthly Market Update
November was a strong month for U.S. equities, with the S&P 500 finishing up 9%. The interest rate on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell from the 5% recent high in October, ending the month at 4.35%. U.S. Bonds, as measured by the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, realized their best monthly gains since 1985. […]
Continue Reading ›October 2023 Monthly Market Update
October is notoriously a volatile month for risk assets, and this year it marked a month the S&P 500 index crossed into correction territory (defined as a greater than 10% drop from a recent peak) with interest rates on U.S. Treasuries reaching multi-year highs. The S&P 500 index crossed the correction threshold intra-month but rallied […]
Continue Reading ›September 2023 Monthly Market Update
September brought a notable shift in the markets, with the S&P 500 index experiencing a 5% decline. Bonds did not fare much better, as the U.S. Aggregate Bond index fell 3%. This decline was due to the continued increase in longer-term interest rates. The U.S. 10-year treasury yield reached 4.6%, while the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage […]
Continue Reading ›August 2023 Monthly Market Update
Stocks sold off in early August as bond yields climbed. The S&P 500 index was down 5% from the end of July through August 18th as the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield reached its highest level since 2007, exceeding 4.3%. The S&P 500 clawed back some of its August losses in the latter half of the […]
Continue Reading ›July 2023 Monthly Market Update
Stocks rallied in July amid low volatility with the Dow Jones Industrial Average recording 13 straight days of gains. The S&P 500 index climbed 3% on the month, on broad strength among sectors and stocks. Improving market breadth comes as a healthy change vs. the first six months of the year when the S&P 500’s […]
Continue Reading ›June 2023 Monthly Market Update
The S&P 500 stock market index rallied 8% in the second quarter, bringing year-to-date gains to 16%. The phrase “it’s a market of stocks, not a stock market” has perhaps never been more appropriate. The S&P 500 is market capitalization-weighted; meaning higher valuations hold larger weights in the index’s overall performance. More than 2/3 of […]
Continue Reading ›May 2023 Monthly Market Update
May was the month of AI for the stock market, though artificial intelligence-related stocks had been gaining momentum since the fall release of OpenAI’s Chat-GPT3. This groundbreaking technology has sparked enthusiasm among investors, and its potential impact on companies and the economy cannot be ignored. Semiconductor designer Nvidia’s May 24th earnings announcement and guidance stoked […]
Continue Reading ›April 2023 Monthly Market Update
April was a relatively calm month for U.S. stocks. The S&P 500 advanced 1.6%, continuing a strong start to the year; the index has now risen 9.2% through April. Nevertheless, gains in the popular U.S. benchmark index have not been broad-based. The S&P 500 is a market-capitalization-weighted stock index of the 500 largest U.S. public […]
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