Market Recap (3/17/24)
Market Recap of the Week of March 11, 2024 - March 15, 2024
Source: Apple Stocks Application
Overall Market Trends:
Last week featured numerous economic data report releases. Stocks started the week off strong but ended up retreating to near beginning-of-the-week prices. The New York Stock Exchange Composite fell 10 points (-0.06%) and the NASDAQ Composite dropped 22 points (-0.14%). On the other hand, the S&P 500 finished the week up 10 points (+0.19%), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted weekly gains of 23 points (+0.06%).
The market stayed relatively steady on Monday as investors awaited the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report set to release on Tuesday. Once released, the Consumer Price Index rose higher than expected and core inflation also rose indicating increased inflation. However, this did little to change investors' minds regarding future rate cuts. The large increases from huge technology companies also contributed to Tuesday’s rise with Nvidia surging over 7%, Microsoft increasing 2.6%, Meta climbing 3.3%, and Oracle rising 11% after beating earnings.
These technology stocks retreated on Wednesday which was the main contributor to the small decrease in index prices.
Stocks tumbled on Thursday after the Producer Price Index (PPI) for the month of February rose 0.6%. This was far greater than the expected increase of only 0.3%. The core PPI also rose 0.4% as opposed to the expected increase of 0.2%. This also caused bond yields to rise on Thursday and when bond yields rise, the stock market generally falls. This negative trend continued into Friday’s trading session leaving some indices like the S&P 500 down on the week.
Past Earnings Report:
Looking Towards the Future
Upcoming Important Economic Events:
Wednesday: Federal Reserve Policy Meeting
Thursday: S&P flash U.S. services PMI; S&P flash U.S. manufacturing PMI
What To Expect Next Week:
Next week will mostly be swayed by the results of the Fed’s policy meeting and their decision on interest rates. Looking at the various economic data reports over the last couple of weeks, there is an extremely high chance that the Fed will keep interest rates steady. This result, however, is already mostly priced into the market and therefore won’t have too much of an impact. However, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments after the meeting will most likely play a large part in the market's performance for the second half of Wednesday’s trading session until the end of the week.
Future Earnings Reports: