Weekly Review (June 13-17)
STOCKS At the start of the week, stocks fell across the globe as investors digested the US inflation report which implies that the Fed will persist in raising interest rates. US markets finished higher on Wednesday, rallying in the aftermath of the Federal Reserve meeting. The US central bank raised its short-term benchmark rate by 0.75%, as expected. At a press conference that followed the decision, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said he expected either a 0.50% or 0.75% increase at the Fed’s July meeting. Technology stocks were among the biggest gainers overnight following the central bank’s meeting. However, the next day, equities plunged dramatically amid renewed recession concerns due to the central banks’ ongoing fight with inflation. Ahead of a long weekend, the S&P 500 index fell by 3.25% to hit the lowest level since late-2020. The Nasdaq Composite plunged 4.08% while the Dow shed 2.4% to finish below the 30,000 figure for the first time since January 2021.
17.06.2022
1093
Weekly Review (June 6-10)
STOCKS Global equity markets were mostly higher at the start of the week as investors cheered the news that Shanghai and Beijing were incrementally relaxing restrictions as the COVID outbreak in China keeps dissipating. Still, market players were cautious ahead of the ECB meeting and the US inflation report. The ECB left rates unchanged, signaling end to QE and 25 bps rate hike in July, as expected. The central bank added that a larger rate hike might be appropriate at the September meeting if the medium-term inflation outlook persists or deteriorates. As a result, US stocks fell sharply on Thursday amid a global sell-off that intensified after the ECB expressed a more hawkish tone than expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.94%, the S&P 500 dropped 2.38% and is now down more than 16% from its all-time high, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 2.75%, with tech giants leading the losses. Ahead of the weekend, equities kept bleeding both in Europe and the United States.
10.06.2022
1110
Weekly Review (May 30-June 3)
STOCKS After the Cabinet issued a series of policies to bolster economic stability while May’s manufacturing and service PMIs came in higher than expected. In Germany, inflation came in at 8.7% in May, exceeding expectations of 8. Global stocks turned mixed-to-lower after positive start to the week. China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0% and thus rekindling worries about the pace of tightening from central banks. US stocks fell as markets reopened from the Memorial Day holiday. However, Wall Street indexes managed to shrug off recent weakness to finish higher overnight on Thursday as risk sentiment improved somewhat. As a result, major indexes erased recent losses to turn positive on the weekly charts. The benchmark S&P 500 gained 1.8%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 2.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.3%. In individual stocks, shares of Microsoft finished 0.8% higher after early losses seen in response to the news that the company cut sales and earnings guidance for the current quarter.
03.06.2022
1180
Weekly Review (May 23-27)
STOCKS
After a mixed start to the week, stocks came under renewed selling pressure. Leading the losses on Tuesday, Snap stocks plummeted 43% after the company warned about a miss on earnings and revenue targets in the current quarter. the next day, Wall Street stocks advanced after the minutes from the Fed’s May meeting showed officials saw the need to raise rates more than the market has priced in. Most participants said that 50 basis point increases in the target range “would likely be appropriate at the next couple of meetings”. On Thursday, US indexes rallied due to upbeat results from retailers, suggesting that the economy remains steady despite high inflation. Also, investors cheered the news that JetBlue Airways lifted its revenue forecast. As such, buyers remained in control in a still deeply oversold market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.6%, the broad-based S&P 500 added 2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 2.7%.
27.05.2022
1116
Weekly Review (May 16-20)
STOCKS After a mixed start to the week, market sentiment deteriorated and the downside pressure intensified across the financial markets. Investors continued to express concerns over geopolitics, economy and inflation that has been rising across the globe, pushing central banks towards tightening despite the lingering recession risks. On the data front, US retail sales rose 0.9% in April, in line with projections, while industrial production rose 1.1% in April, well above the 0.5% estimate. On Wednesday, US stock markets fell sharply in a broad-based sell-off. The Dow Jones shed 3.57% to post its biggest loss in two years. The S&P 500 fell 4% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 4.73%. In individual stocks, Target shares slumped nearly 25% after the retailer revealed disappointing quarterly earnings, citing higher costs for fuel. Lowe’s gave up more than 5% after missing sales expectations in its first quarter. Ahead of the weekend, sentiment improved somehow but the overall tone stayed cautious anyway.
20.05.2022
1123
Weekly Review (May 9-13)
STOCKS
Investor sentiment has been downbeat since the start of the week amid the resurgent worries about recession after a lockdown in Shanghai was tightened further. Adding to negative tone in Asia, China's exports fell in April to their lowest level in almost two years. In Europe, investor sentiment slumped to -22.6 in May from -18 in April versus -20.8 expected. The selling pressure intensified after the data out of the US showed that April’s consumer price index showed an 8.3% jump, higher than the 8.1% increase expected. The report raised concerns over the Fed’s aggressive tightening plan, pushing riskier assets lower across the globe. Following a major slump, Wall Street stocks finished mixed and little changed on Thursday as risk aversion has ebbed somehow. The Dow Jones gave up 0.3% to decline for a sixth consecutive session. The S&P 500 declined 0.13% and the Nasdaq Composite gained less than 0.1%, trading at its lowest level since November 2020.
13.05.2022
1141
Weekly Review (May 2-6)
STOCKS
The first half of the week was quite positive for global stock markets. US equities rallied sharply on Wednesday to see the biggest one-day rally since 2020 amid a more cautious tone from Fed’s Powell. In the largest move since 2000, the central bank raised rated by 50 basis points, as expected, while also saying that monetary authorities have no plans to tighten at a more aggressive pace. However, the selling pressure reemerged eventually to take equities lower across the board. US benchmarks witnessed an ugly session on Thursday, suffered their worst day of the year. The S&P 500 fell by 3.6%, the Nasdaq was down 5.0%, and the Dow gave up 3.1%. In part, the sell-off was due to weak economic data as US productivity dropped in the first quarter by the most since 1947 while initial jobless claims came in at 200,000 versus 179,750 estimate. In general, markets remain volatile and risk-sensitive as the conflict in Ukraine continues and worries about the economic outlook persist.
06.05.2022
1110
Weekly Review (April 25-29)
STOCKS Stock markets were mostly on the defensive during the first half of the week, as geopolitical, economic, and China-related worries continued to persist, especially as Beijing has expanded COVID-19 testing to the whole of the city. Meanwhile, the IMF said that the Asian region faces stagflationary outlook with growth being lower than previously expected, sending the MSCI AC Asia Pacific index to the lowest level since mid-2020. As risk-off tone started to abate, US equities bounced on Wednesday to stage a strong rally the next day as investors cheered upbeat corporate earnings. Market players shrugged of the report that showed that the US economy unexpectedly shrank for the first time since 2020. The S&P 500 gained more than 2%, the Dow Jones gained 1.85%, and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 3% as Meta Platforms surged nearly 18% in the biggest rally in nearly ten years amid better-than-expected Q1 financial results. Adding to investor optimism, PayPal rose 11.5%, despite the company lowering its full-year profit outlook. On Friday, Wall Street stocks opened lower, with major indexes losing more than 1% in early deals.
29.04.2022
1138
Weekly Review (April 18-22)
STOCKS After a muted and mostly negative start to the week, global stocks bounced despite the IMF has cut its growth forecast for 2022 by 0.3% to 3.7%, citing developments surrounding Russia-Ukraine crisis. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was dragged down by Netflix quarterly results as the company reported a loss of 200,000 global subscribers in the first quarter. This is the first time it lost subscribers in more than ten years. Elsewhere, Rio Tinto fell nearly 5% after reporting lower-than-expected first-quarter iron ore shipments. In Asia, China’s COVID-19 outbreak continued to unnerve investors while the People’s Bank of China kept its loan prime rates steady, disappointing market players as they expected the central bank to cut rates in an effort to support the struggling economy. Ahead of the weekend, risk aversion intensified after hawkish messages from the Fed. Powell noted it is appropriate to be moving more quickly and front-end loading, Bullard highlighted that the Fed is behind the curve, while Daly noted that the central bank will likely be raising rates by 50 bps at a couple of meetings. As a result, the S&P 500 shed 1.5%, the Dow Jones lost 1.0%, and the Nasdaq fell 2% to the lowest since mid-March.
22.04.2022
1183