Stocks managed to post solid gains and largely recovered from the previous week’s steep losses. Growth stocks outpaced value shares by a wide margin, helped by strong performance from technology stocks which rallied aggressively higher midweek after NVDA CEO Jensen Huang said "demand was incredible“. They extended that sudden squeeze into Friday. On Wednesday, stocks initially headed sharply lower following news that core (less food and energy) consumer inflation rose to 0.3% in August, a tick higher than consensus expectations. Meanwhile, headline inflation showed an annual increase of 2.5%, well below July’s increase of 2.9% and its lowest level since early 2021. But the news from NVIDIA seemed to help drive a turnaround later Wednesday morning. Treasury yields ticked lower during the week with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note trading at year-to-date lows. The STOXX Europe 600 Index ended the week 1.85% higher, lifted by an interest rate cut from the ECB. Japan’s stock markets registered mixed performance over the week, with the Nikkei 225 Index gaining 0.5%. Chinese stocks declined as weak inflation data spurred concerns about a downward price-wage spiral weighing on the economy. The dollar's weakness helped lift gold, which surged to a new record high with its best week in five months. Bitcoin surged to its best week in two months, testing back up to $60,000 today.
Have a great week-end
Charles for the team