S&P 500 (SP500) Friday Up 4.02% The index ended the week at 5,626.02 points, posting gains in all five sessions. SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (New York: Spy) Up 4.01% For this week.
Bulls returned to Wall Street this week, helping The index rose from its previous levels. Worst week Last week was the best week of the year. In fact, the S&P (sb 500) Best week since the end of October 2023.
“The last time the S&P 500 fell at least 4% in one week and then rose more than 4% the following week was June 2022,” Bespoke Investment Group noted on Twitter.
Last week’s sell-off was driven by concerns about economic growth after a string of weak data, particularly on the labor market. This, coupled with the historical weakness in markets in September, has seen investors pull back from growth sectors like technology and head for safe-haven assets like bonds.
The narrative reversed this week after market participants received inflation data that strongly reinforced expectations of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve next Wednesday. The only question now is: How big will the cut be?
The August CPI report released on Wednesday showed the headline figure slowing on a year-on-year basis. The headline PPI also slowed on Thursday on a year-on-year basis. The core CPI and PPI came in slightly higher than expected.
“Last week’s employment report offered something for both doves and hawks speculating on the outcome of next week’s Fed meeting. The acceleration in employment in August coupled with downward revisions to previous data left the door open for a 25bp or 50bp cut in September. This week’s inflation data provided further clarity,” according to Wells Fargo.
“The core CPI rose 0.3% month-over-month in August. This was slightly above consensus expectations and represented the fastest price increase in four months… Although the August inflation uptick was likely a fluctuating increase rather than a trend change, the steady nature of price growth may prompt FOMC members to exercise more caution on the way down,” Wells Fargo said.
Another highlight of the week was the second presidential debate between Democratic nominee and current Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican nominee and former leader of the country Donald Trump. The two candidates competed on different topics, and the consensus was that Harris won the debate.
Moving to the weekly performance of the S&P 500 sectors, all 11 except for energy ended in the green. Technology added a staggering 7%, while consumer discretionary and telecommunications services completed the list of the top three gainers. See below for a breakdown of the sector performance and their associated SPDR Select Sector ETFs from the close of September 6 to the close of September 13:
#1: Information Technology +7.33%and the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) +8.10%.
#2: Discretionary Consumer Goods +6.14%and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) +5.53%.
#3: Communication Services +4.27%and the Select Communications Sector SPDR Fund (XLC) +3.70%.
#4: Industries +3.70%and the Select Industrials SPDR Fund (XLI) +3.72%.
#5: Real Estate +3.41%and the SPDR Real Estate Select Sector Fund (XLRE) +3.62%.
#6: Facilities +3.38%and the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU) +3.46%.
#7: Materials +3.16%and Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLB) +3.11%.
#8: Health Care +1.44%and the Healthcare Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) +1.44%.
#9: Consumer Staples +1.11%and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) +1.13%.
#10: Finance +0.48%and the Select Financial Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) +0.50%.
#11: Energy -0.74%and the Select Energy Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) -0.49%.
For investors looking to track the benchmark S&P 500 Index (SP500), here are some ETFs of interest: (VOO), (IVV), (RSP), (SSO), (UPRO), (SH), (SDS), and (SPXU).
For investors looking ahead to what’s happening, take a look at the Seeking Alpha Catalyst Watch to see details of actionable events in the coming week.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.