Market Watch

The Markets (as of market close January 27, 2023) Wall Street ended last week higher on favorable inflation, economic, and corporate earnings data. Investors now must await the Federal Reserve’s meeting this week to see whether the Fed will soften its policy of aggressive interest-rate hikes. Fourth-quarter corporate earnings season is wide open with roughly […]

The Markets (as of market close January 13, 2023) Stocks advanced for the second week in a row to kick off 2023. Investors were encouraged by inflation data that showed prices slid lower in December. The interest-rate-sensitive Nasdaq posted gains for six consecutive sessions, its longest streak since 2021, while the Nasdaq and the S&P

Last Friday’s rally helped drive stocks higher to end the first full week of January. Investors apparently saw a deceleration in November and December average hourly earnings (see jobs report below) as a sign that the aggressive monetary policy followed by the Federal Reserve may actually be slowing inflation. Traders will await this week’s consumer

The Markets (as of market close December 16, 2022) Wall Street saw stocks end last week lower as investors worried that the Federal Reserve’s push to slow rising inflation may lead the economy into a recession. Early in the week, investors were buoyed by softer-than-expected inflation data, which preceded the Fed’s expected 50-basis-point interest-rate hike.

The Markets (as of market close December 9, 2022) Stocks couldn’t maintain momentum from the previous two weeks, ultimately closing last week in the red. The small caps of the Russell 2000 gave back over 5.0%, while the Nasdaq dropped 4.0%. The S&P 500 fell 3.4%, the Dow declined 2.8%, and the Global Dow dipped

The Markets (as of market close July 8, 2022) Last Friday’s strong jobs report may have alleviated fears of a recession for the time being, but it also likely supported a more aggressive response from the Federal Reserve as it tries to dampen rising inflation. Stocks started July on a strong note, with each of

The Markets (as of market close July 1, 2022) Despite an end-of-week surge, stocks closed last week lower. Recession fears resulted in traders moving to bonds, driving prices higher and yields lower. As another round of corporate earnings reports nears, investors are bracing for weaker results, which could dampen trader sentiment and send stocks tumbling

The Markets (as of market close June 24, 2022) The stock and bond markets were closed last Monday to observe the Juneteenth federal holiday. Then, after three weeks of bruising losses, stocks rebounded over the next four days to deliver solid gains. Investors hung on every word during Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s two days of

The Markets (as of market close June 17, 2022) Last week was marked by volatility. Stocks experienced brief rallies throughout the week, but not enough to overcome corresponding troughs that ultimately dragged the major benchmark indexes lower. The Federal Reserve’s intent to bring inflation down to 2.0% through tighter monetary policy has investors concerned about

The Markets (as of market close June 3, 2022) Investors swallowed modest losses last week as the stock market served up another disappointing performance. Each of the benchmark indexes listed here lost value, with the S&P 500 declining 1.2%, the Nasdaq pulling back 1.0%, and the Dow falling 0.9%. The Global Dow fell 0.8% and