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Fed Talks Turkey on Lower Rates, Boosting Markets

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Fed Talks Turkey on Lower Rates, Boosting Markets

Growing optimism that the Fed may be ready to ease future interest rate hikes sent stocks higher in a quiet trading week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.78%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 added 1.53%. The Nasdaq Composite index improved 0.72% for the week. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, advanced 2.33%.

Stocks Rally
In light holiday-week trading, stocks rallied as investors grew more hopeful of a slowdown in a future rate hike. The release of the minutes from the early November meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) fed investors’ optimism. Fed officials suggested such easing may be coming soon.
Investor sentiment was also lifted by unexpectedly strong retailer earnings, upside surprises in new economic data, and a better-than-expected consumer sentiment reading. Investors looked past the continuing Covid-related challenges that have stymied China’s economic recovery and its attendant implications for global growth.
Easing in the Offing?
The Fed meeting minutes, released before the Thanksgiving holiday, showed that most Fed officials felt a slowing in interest rate increases would be appropriate. The minutes also suggested that such a deceleration in rate hikes may begin with December’s meeting with a …

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Markets Down Ahead of Thanksgiving Holiday

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Markets Down Ahead of Thanksgiving Holiday

The stock market edged lower last week as it digested a crosscurrent of conflicting economic data and contrasting comments from Fed officials.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat (-0.01%), while the Standard & Poor’s 500 declined by 0.69%. The Nasdaq Composite index lost 1.57% for the week. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, fell 0.88%.

Stocks Slip
Stocks took a spill after Fed officials’ comments cast uncertainty about future rate hikes. The more hawkish comments soured investor hopes of an imminent easing in Fed rate hikes, a prospect that had helped fuel the market rally the previous week.
Concerns over the hawkish comments raised investor worries over recession risks, anxiety exacerbated by weak housing data and layoff announcements from major technology companies. The economic picture, however, included some encouraging news as retail sales rose and producer price increases moderated.
Producer Prices Ease
The Producer Price Index (PPI), which reflects the costs paid by domestic producers, seen as an indicator of future consumer prices, is not typically a market-moving event. That was not the case last week.
October’s PPI rose a modest 0.2%, well below the 0.4% consensus estimate. The year-over-year increase moderated to 8.0%, compared to 8.4% in September and the peak of 11.7% in March. The eye-catching element may have been the 0.1% service decline, representing the first decline since …

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Cooling Inflation Brings Market Gains

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Cooling Inflation Brings Market Gains

A cooling inflation number ignited a powerful rally on Thursday, sending stocks to strong gains for the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 4.15%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 added 5.90%. The Nasdaq Composite index rose 8.10% for the week. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, picked up 5.72%.

Stocks Surge
A lower-than-expected inflation report triggered the biggest one-day stock market gain in more than two years as the news raised investors’ hopes that the Fed might consider easing the pace of future rate hikes. The day’s gains were pronounced in the hard-hit technology sector, as the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 7.35%.
Stocks initially rallied to start the week, but gave up some of the gains on Wednesday following a muddy and indecisive outcome to the midterms. Friday saw stocks build on their gains to close out an exceptional week.
Inflation Moderates
Consumer prices rose slower in October, increasing 0.4% for the month and 7.7% from 12 months ago. Both numbers were below market expectations of 0.6% and 7.9%. The core CPI (excludes energy and food sectors) rose a more modest 0.3% on a …

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Stocks Slip After Powell Comments

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Stocks Slip After Powell Comments

Hawkish comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell, following the announcement of another 75 basis points interest rate hike last week, cast a pall over financial markets, sending yields higher and stocks lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 1.40%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 declined 3.35%. The Nasdaq Composite index lost 5.65% for the week. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, fell 1.04%.

Powell Disappoints
The official statement released following the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting appeared to suggest a potential for future easing of interest rates. Investors cheered the news, sending stocks higher. But the optimism was crushed 30 minutes later on hawkish comments by Fed Chair Powell during his post-meeting press conference.
Losses accelerated into Thursday, led by technology names, which were under pressure due to rising bond yields. The yield on the two-year Treasury note rose to its highest level since 2007. The sentiment took damage from workforce reduction/freeze news from multiple technology companies; some considered it a sign of a pending …

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Wall Street Flips the Script & Enjoys a Rally

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Wall Street Flips the Script & Enjoys a Rally

A positive start to a new earnings season and late-week hopes for a near-term easing in Fed rate hikes lifted investors’ spirits and powered stocks to gains for the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 4.89%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 advanced 4.74%. The Nasdaq Composite index added 5.22% for the week. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, gained 1.66%.

Earnings, Fed Spark Rally
The stock market narrative shifted last week from Fed interest rate hikes (a persistent drag on investor sentiment) to corporate earnings, which boosted investor enthusiasm with better-than-expected results. Stocks surged in the first two days of trading on the strength of positive earnings surprises, aided by a modest pullback in bond yields and news that the U.K. was scrapping its tax cut plans.
Mid-week, stocks surrendered some gains on a stronger U.S. dollar and rising bond yields. But on Friday, comments by a Fed official that hinted at a possible relaxation in Fed rate hikes sent stocks soaring to close out a good week.
Better Than Expected
Investors were approaching the new earnings season with a fair amount of trepidation amid an environment of higher interest rates and a slowing economy. The concern has been that poor earnings may drag stock prices lower from current levels.
Early earnings results have provided investors with…

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Volatility Reigns; Inflation Remains Unchecked and The Biggest COLA Increase Since 1981

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Volatility Reigns; Inflation Remains Unchecked

Stocks were mixed last week amid wide intra- and inter-day price swings, as technology shares bore the brunt of the downdraft.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.15% for the week. Meanwhile, the Standard & Poor’s 500 slipped 1.55%, and the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 3.11%. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, lost 2.48%.

Breathtaking Volatility
An above-consensus consumer inflation number sent stocks tumbling in early Thursday trading before inexplicably surging higher in a stunning reversal that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average rally 1,500 points from its intraday low. Before reversing, stocks had touched levels last seen in 2020. Friday surrendered much of the previous day’s gains, sending stocks mostly lower for the week.
The stock market began the week on a volatile note, with the Nasdaq hitting a two-year low. Recession fears and new export controls may limit U.S. companies from selling advanced semiconductor chips and related manufacturing equipment to China.
Sticky Inflation
September’s inflation reports provided little evidence that inflation was moderating meaningfully. The Producer Price Index’s first report on inflation showed a 0.4% increase in supplier prices over August and an 8.5% increase 12 months ago. While down from August’s 8.7% rise, it was higher than market expectations.
The subsequent release of the Consumer Price Index showed …

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Boost Early in Week Keeps Markets Ahead

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Boost Early in Week Keeps Markets Ahead

A powerful two-day stock rebound cemented a positive week for investors as a new trading month began.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.99%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 added 1.51%. The Nasdaq Composite index increased 0.73% for the week. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, gained 3.42%.

Stocks Start Strongly
Stocks opened the week posting their best two-day rally since March 2020, as the U.K. prime minister’s decision to reverse a tax cut proposal that had upended financial markets the previous week lifted investors.
Falling yields further lifted investor enthusiasm, as did new economic data indicating a cooling economy. Losses in the last two days erased much of the gains as concerns about higher rates and recession once again moved front and center. The selling pressure was due to a stream of hawkish comments by Fed officials and labor market data that suggested the Fed would likely stick with its rate-hike plans.
A Mixed Labor Picture
Employment-related reports offered conflicting signals on the state of the labor market. In a sign of cooling, the number of open jobs in August fell…

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U.S. and U.K. See Financial Turbulence

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U.S. and U.K. See Financial Turbulence

Rising recession fears and uncertainty in the bond and currency markets sent stocks to new 2022 lows last week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 2.92%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 slumped 2.91%. The Nasdaq Composite index fell 2.69%. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, lost 1.94%.

A Tumultuous Week
U.S. stocks were under pressure all week due to recession concerns and unsettled trading in the bond and currency markets. This stress followed economic steps out of the U.K. During the previous week, the Bank of England (BOE) raised interest rates, and its prime minister announced unfunded tax cuts that the markets interpreted as inflationary.
U.S. bond yields rose early last week, sending stocks lower until Wednesday’s rally following news that the BOE would buy U.K. government bonds. U.S. stocks resumed their descent the following two days to close out a disappointing week, month, and third quarter.
The Bank of England Acts
Global bond and currency markets have been volatile recently due to…

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Fallout From Powell Comments Continues

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Fallout From Powell Comments Continues

Last week, Fed Chair Powell said the U.S. would not tame inflation without economic pain. This week heightened recession fears and sent stocks broadly lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 4.00%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 lost 4.65%. The Nasdaq Composite index fell 5.07% for the week. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, declined 3.05%.

Yields Surge, Stocks Tumble
Last week’s meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) proved unsettling for the financial markets. It wasn’t only the widely expected announcement of another rate hike but a more hawkish message that rates may be heading higher for longer than anticipated. Fed officials indicated that any policy change might be further off than investors had contemplated.
The latest rate hike caused bond yields to rise, with two-year and ten-year Treasury note yields touching levels not seen in over a decade. Global central banks moved in tandem with the Fed, as the Bank of England, Swiss National Bank, and Norway’s Norges Bank, among others, also hiked rates.

Another Rate Hike
In its effort to cool inflationary forces, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 0.75% last week—the third consecutive rate increase of that size. Projections by FOMC members suggested that…

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White Hot Inflation Report Alarms Investors

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White Hot Inflation Report Alarms Investors

A hotter-than-expected inflation report sent stocks sharply lower last week as investors faced the prospect of more aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve for perhaps a longer period.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4.13%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 lost 4.77%. The Nasdaq Composite index dropped 5.48% for the week. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, dipped 1.78%.

Inflation Deflates Markets
Stocks suffered their worst day in more than two years last Tuesday as markets were caught off-guard by a higher-than-anticipated August inflation report.
Markets expected the August report to show a substantial cooling of inflation, potentially allowing the Fed to ease up on interest rate hikes. Instead, the elevated inflation number not only undercut those easing hopes but raised the possibility of a more significant rate hike. On Tuesday, traders assigned a 28% probability of a 100 basis point hike, from a 0% chance just the day before. Price action remained choppy for the remainder of the week, closing the week with additional losses as a global package-delivery company warned of a worldwide recession.

August CPI Disappoints
August’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 8.3% from a year ago, showing a continued deceleration in…