Market Recap (10/15/23)
Market Recap of the week of October 9, 2023 - October 13, 2023
Source: Apple Stocks Application
Overall Market Trends:
This week, the four major indexes all increased significantly at the beginning of the week but decreased on Thursday and Friday, trending up overall. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) snapped their 3-week losing streaks increasing 273 points (0.82%) and 113 points (0.74%) respectively. The NASDAQ had its third consecutive week of gains rising 106 points (0.8%) and the S&P 500 had back-to-back weeks of gains increasing 36 points (0.83%).
Last weekend, Hamas waged war on Israel which worried some investors. This caused a surge in oil prices and gold prices. However, the indexes still soared Monday through Wednesday because expectations for the U.S. producer and consumer prices data for September that was released on Wednesday and Thursday supported the easing of price pressure which would suggest no more rate hikes for the rest of the year.
On Wednesday, the Fed minutes said that at the policy meeting in September, the majority of the participants in the Fed believed that it was necessary for one more rate hike, it was nowhere near unanimous. This excited investors as it gave them hope that there wouldn’t be another rate hike for the rest of the year. Additionally, yields have continued dropping since its spike last week which is reducing competition for the stock market.
Indexes finished mostly lower on Friday after investors were rattled by heightened geopolitical tensions. The market is anticipating an invasion of Gaza by Israel which would escalate tensions throughout the Middle East. Additionally, the University of Michigan published its latest reading of consumer sentiment which showed that one-year inflation expectations were increased from 3.2% to 3.8% in September. Most markets significantly decreased, however Major banks all released extremely well earning reports which pushed the Dow Jones barely positive on the day.
Past Earning Reports:
Looking Towards The Future
If tensions continue to increase in the Middle East and the Israel-Hamas war becomes a wider issue, the stock market could take a dive as gold prices, energy prices, and oil prices would shoot up which would therefore raise questions with regards to inflation and therefore rate hikes.
Future Earning Reports:
