US stocks were mostly lower for the week, as investors weighed upside surprises in inflation data and signs of moderating consumer spending. The Dow Jones Industrial Average held up better than other indices and reached a record high on Wednesday before falling back to end the week. Energy shares outperformed on the back of higher oil prices, while technology shares lagged due to weakness in NVIDIA and other chipmakers. On the macro side, US retail sales rose 0.6% in February, missing  expectations. The US CPI rose 0.4% in February, in line with consensus expectations, but core prices (less food and energy) rose a tick more than expected, also by 0.4%. The PPI rose 0.6% MoM in February, roughly double consensus estimates and the most in six months.

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.

The Nasdaq Composite rose to an all-time high Friday, surpassing its 2021 record while the S&P 500 closed above 5100 for the first time. The month also closed a strong February, with the S&P 500 marking its strongest beginning two months of the year since 2019. The week’s gains were also broad-based, with an equal-weighted version of the S&P 500 Index modestly outperforming its capitalization version. Thursday’s release of the PCE price index was a disappointment as core prices rose by 3.9%, above expectations of around 3.7%. The 12 Fed policymakers scheduled to deliver speeches over the week all seemed to echo the recent narrative that they were in no rush to cut interest rates. But on Friday, a disappointing ISM Manufacturing index (back to 47.8) and Fed Governor Waller indication that the Fed might be willing to implement a new “Operation Twist” pushed bond yields lower and gold prices higher.

The S&P 500 Index hit new intraday highs, as did the Nasdaq Composite Index, which posted its biggest daily gain in about a year on Thursday, when NVIDIA added a record USD 277 billion to its market capitalization. The chipmaker reported strong quarterly revenue and earnings that topped Wall Street estimates. The pan-European STOXX Europe 600 Index climbed to a record level, ending the week 1.15% higher. Japanese equities ended Thursday at a new all-time high, with the Nikkei 225 Index breaking the previous record set more than 30 years ago in 1989. Chinese equities rallied as recovery hopes rose following buoyant holiday spending during the prior week’s Lunar New Year holiday. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 4.85%.

Some favorable earnings surprises balanced against discouraging inflation data left the major US equities indices mixed, with the S&P 500 Index recording its first weekly decline since the start of the year. The declines were concentrated in large-cap growth stocks, however, with an equally weighted version of the S&P 500 reaching a record intraday high on Thursday. Investors digested several upside inflation surprises during the week. On Tuesday, stocks sold off after US CPI data, up 0.3% MoM in January (vs. 0.2% expected). Core CPI rose 0.4% MoM, up 3.9% yoy, nearly double the Fed’s 2.0% target. Stock fell again on Friday  as PPI increased 0.3% in January—the most in five months—after falling 0.1% in December. Core prices rose 0.5%, well above expectations of around 0.1%. Stagflation fears reappeared on Thursday as retail sales plummeted 0.8% in January.

Most of the major US #equity indexes moved higher over the week, with the S&P 500 Index reaching new highs and breaching the 5,000 threshold for the first time. The advance remained relatively narrow, however, with an equally weighted version of the index significantly trailing the standard market-weighted version for the fourth time in five weeks. #Nvidia soared and is now worth as much as the entire Chinese stock market (represented by the H shares of the Hong Kong stock market). Market sentiment was helped by the solid reception given to the U.S. Treasury Department’s record $42 billion auction of 10-year notes. Shares in New York Community Bank plunged after the lender reported weak results in the wake of its acquisition of failed Signature Bank during early 2023’s regional banking turmoil.

US equity performance was mixed over the week as large-caps indices moved to intraday highs while small-caps and an equally weighted version of the S&P 500 Index recorded a modest loss. It was the busiest week of the Q4 earnings reporting season, with several releases from heavily weighted tech giants driving investors’ sentiment. Meta was the biggest winner of the week, up 20% on Friday. Meanwhile, Regional banks suffered their worst week since May 2023. On Wednesday, the Fed left short-term interest rates unchanged, as it was widely anticipated, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated that he didn’t think it’s likely that the Fed will cut rates in March. As a result, futures markets are now pricing in only a 20.5% chance of a rate cut in March, down from 47.7% the week before.

US stocks recorded another week of gains, bringing the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 Index to new all-time highs and marking the 12th weekly advance out of the last 13 for the latter. The gains were relatively broad, although the small-cap Russell 2000 Index remained nearly 20% below its all-time intraday high. More US macro data have been  beating estimates. The U.S. economy grew at a rate of 3.3% in Q4. The S&P Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) came in higher than expected, with the manufacturing PMI hitting 50.3 in January, well above expectations. US Treasury yields were all up on Friday but mixed on the week with the long-end underperforming. . Outside the US, the STOXX Europe 600 Index ended 3.1% higher on encouraging corporate results. The ECB kept its key interest rates unchanged at record highs and reiterated that monetary policy would stay at “sufficiently restrictive levels for as long as necessary” to bring inflation down to the 2% target.

US stocks ended mostly higher but the advance was narrow with technology stocks outperforming, helped by a rally in semiconductor shares. AI chip giant NVIDIA was particularly strong, as was rival AMD. On Tuesday, shares of Boeing fell sharply after the company reported earnings following an analyst downgrade. The week’s data offered some starkly different pictures of the economy’s health. On Tuesday, the New York Manufacturing index reached its lowest level since early in the pandemic. Conversely, Wednesday’s December retail sales numbers easily exceeded expectations, up 0.6% in October, with online sales growing 1.5% and hitting a new record high.

Stocks moved higher over the week. The Nasdaq Composite index surged over 3% on the week (best one since early Nov '23) while The Dow and Small Caps were unchanged (S&P closed up almost 2% on the week). Several tech giants recorded solid gains, including Facebook / Meta Platforms and chipmaker NVIDIA. Energy stocks underperformed as oil prices pulled back early in the week. US our largest banks—JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo—reported fourth-quarter results on Friday. Data releases on the week’s light economic calendar came in roughly in line with expectations. US Headline core CPI rose 0.3% in December, a tick more than expected, but core CPI also rose 0.3%, in line with consensus.