US equities recorded their best week since 2023, led by a 5%-plus surge in the Nasdaq (which is up 12% from last Monday's lows). Investors appeared to celebrate positive news on both the inflation and growth fronts, which are bolstering hopes that the economy might achieve a “soft landing.” AI chip giant NVIDIA was especially strong, gaining 19% over the week. Growth stocks handily outpaced value shares. Small Caps were lifted by an ongoing short-squeeze. Official economic data suggested that the consumer was holding strong in the face of the cooling labor market. On Thursday, the Commerce Department reported that retail sales surged 1.0% in July, their best showing in 18 months. Consumer price index (CPI) inflation, reported Wednesday, was in line with expectations but also seemed to reassure investors, as the yoy increase in CPI fell below 3.0% for the first time in three years. The US 10-year Treasury yield decreased through most of the week on the benign inflation data but jumped on Thursday following the strong retail sales data. Credit markets rallied hard this week, adjusting back from "hard landing" to "soft landing" scenarios. The dollar plunged to 5-month lows and gold soared to a record high, topping $2500 for the first time. In Europe, the STOXX Europe 600 Index ended 2.5% higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index gained 8.7% as the yen weakened to the high-JPY 148 range against the dollar. Cryptos were volatile but Friday saw Bitcoin surging back up to $60,000 to end the week unchanged.
Have a great week-end
Charles for the team