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Tag: interest rates


February 2026 Monthly Market Update

The S&P 500 declined 0.87% in February, after a modest increase in January. Market dynamics were driven less by index‑level movements and more by sector‑specific shifts. Software and consulting companies were under pressure amid rising concerns about potential disruption from accelerating advances in artificial intelligence. Losses deepened following the publication of a pessimistic AI scenario […]

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December 2025 Monthly Market Update

Stocks posted another year of gains in 2025. As investors look to 2026, many of the same core themes apply: tariff policy, interest rates, and AI. The April tariff-driven selloff, which pulled the S&P 500 down 15% earlier in the year, proved short-lived as concerns regarding corporate profits and consumer spending failed to materialize. In […]

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October 2025 Monthly Market Update

The Federal Reserve delivered its second consecutive 25-basis-point rate cut on October 29, lowering the federal funds rate to a range of 3.75%–4%. However, Chair Jerome Powell emphasized that another cut in December is “not a foregone conclusion,” reflecting a growing divide among policymakers. The decision comes amid persistent inflation—CPI rose to 3% year-over-year in […]

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August 2025 Monthly Market Update

U.S. stocks continued to grind higher in August, with the S&P 500 advancing 1.9% and notching a new record high late in the month. The Dow and Nasdaq also posted gains, marking the fourth consecutive monthly increase for the major indices. Volatility remained muted as investors weighed a mix of softer labor data, ongoing debate […]

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July 2024 Monthly Market Update

The second half of 2024 kicked off with a shifting global economic landscape shaped by anticipated rate cuts, evolving inflation trends, and large performance differences among stocks/sectors. Treasury yields dropped significantly in July, including the 2, 5, and 10-year benchmarks. Value stocks beat growth stocks by the widest margin in years, with the Russell 1000 […]

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April 2024 Monthly Market Update

Stocks broke a five-month winning streak in April as the S&P 500 declined 4.2%, bouncing from an April 18th low of -5.5%. Bonds also declined, with the U.S. Aggregate Bond Index falling about 2.5% as yields rose. The two-year U.S. treasury yield hit 5% for the first time since November, gaining 41 basis points (+0.4%) […]

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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 […]

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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. […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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