WEEKLY SUMMARY: New record highs for Gold & digital Gold
Growing hopes that the Federal Reserve might begin cutting interest rates sooner rather than later appeared to help bring the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite indices to new record intraday highs before pulling back late Friday. Small-cap and value shares outperformed, while mega-cap tech shares lagged due in part to a decline in Apple following reports about slowing iPhone sales in China. Notably, Danish pharmaceuticals company Novo Nordisk displaced Tesla on Thursday as the 12th biggest public company by market capitalization. On the macro side, Friday’s US jobs report showed that employers added 275,000 jobs in February, more than consensus forecasts, but January’s gain was revised significantly lower, from 353,000 to 229,000. Moreover, the unemployment rate rose unexpectedly from 3.7% to 3.9%, its highest level in over two years. In a positive sign for inflation, average hourly earnings rose 0.1%, below expectations and down sharply from January’s 0.5% increase. Fed Chairman Powell’s less-hawkish than expected comments at Congress mid-week and the downside economic surprises helped push the yield on the US 10-year to its lowest intraday level (4.03%) since February 2. The STOXX Europe 600 Index gained ground for the seventh straight week, hitting a record high as ECB keeps rates steady but cuts macro forecasts. The dollar endured its worst week in three months. Gold soared to a new record high just shy of $2200 on Friday. Bitcoin hit a new all-time high at $70,000 on Friday.
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Most of US equities indices rose to record highs, as investors wagered that a “red sweep” (Republicans winning Presidency, Senate and Congress) would result in faster earnings growth, looser regulations, and lower corporate taxes. The small-cap Russell 2000 Index surged 8.57% for the week but was the sole benchmark to remain out of record territory. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones hit 44.000 for the first time while the S&P 500 closed just shy of 6,000, up 4.7% for the week, its best weekly gain in almost a year. On Thursday, the Fed announced a 25bps rate cut, its first easing move since cutting rates by 50 basis points in mid-September. In terms of economic data, the October ISM services sector activity came in at 56.0, well above expectations and the best reading since August 2022. U.S. Treasuries generated positive returns heading into Friday, as yields largely ended lower than where they ended the previous week.