Weekly Market Bullets

for the week ending 2/14/2025

• US Equity Markets rose last week as President Trump chose not to impose broad-based tariffs on our trading partners, at least for the time being. The S&P 500 rose 1.5% for the week and is now up 4.0% for the year. The S&P Equal Weight index is participating nicely in the market gains, up 3.3% for the year. The Nasdaq increased 2.6% for the week to bring its gains for the year to 3.7%, while the Russell 2000 (small cap stocks) eked out a 0.01% gain for the week and remains up 2.2% for year.

• Global Equity Markets continued their gains last week, also relieved at the reprieve in tariffs from the US. Developed Markets were up 2.5% for the week and are now up 7.8% for the year. Emerging Markets increased 1.5% for the week to bring its gains for the year to 4.6%.

• Inflation turned back up in January, though interest rates ticked down. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for January showed inflation rose 3.0% from a year ago, up from 2.9% in December. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, increased 3.3% from a year ago, up from 3.2% in December. Despite that, the yield on the US 10-Year Treasury closed the week at 4.48% vs. 4.49% the prior week.

• Corporate Earnings growth was robust for Q4 2024. With 77% of the S&P 500 having reported their Q4 results, 76% of firms have exceeded earnings estimates, while 62% have beaten revenue forecasts, both slightly below historical averages. The blended earnings growth rate is currently 16.9% for Q4 2024, which if it holds, would be the strongest growth rate since the rebound from COVID in Q4 2021 (31.4%).

Market Data

for the week ending 2/14/2025