The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices both reached record intraday highs during the week while small & mid caps pulled back. Growth stocks outpaced value shares by the widest amount since early in the year on the back of falling longer-term interest rates. The start of the week brought some downbeat economic readings (e.g ISM manufacturing below 50.0), which appeared to lead to a return of worries about “stagflation” among some investors. The picture brightened at midweek as the ISM’s services jumped to 53.8 in May, its highest level in nine months. The upside surprise in the official US jobs report on Friday morning didn’t lead to a negative market's reaction as it was tempered by an unexpected rise in the unemployment rate to 4.0%, its highest level since January 2022. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note hit a two-month intraday low (4.28%) on Thursday. While the yield jumped after the Friday jobs report, it still ended lower for the week. The pan-European STOXX Europe 600 Index ended 1.04% higher after the ECB on Thursday cut interest rates for the first time in five years. Stocks in China retreated despite data showing that the property sector may be gaining traction. In #Forex, the #dollar index spiked to one-month highs. In #commodities, #Oil prices ended lower for the week but bounced back strongly in the last three days. #Gold lost some ground and is trading back at one- monthly lows. #Bitcoin tested $72,000 on Friday and then puked down to find support at $69,000.
Have a great week-end
Charles for the team