Weekly Market Bullets

for the week ending 8/11/2023

• Profit-taking continued in US Equity Markets last week, though better-than-expected inflation data curbed the selling pressure. The S&P 500 fell 0.3% for the week and is now up 16.3% for the year. The Nasdaq was down 1.9% for the week to bring its gains for the year to 30.4%, while the Russell 2000 (small cap stocks) declined 1.7% for the week and is now up 9.3% for the year.

• Weak economic data out of China raised hopes for a long-rumored Chinese economic stimulus package, helping prop up Global Equity Markets last week. Developed Markets increased 0.5% for the week and are now up 9.1% for the year. Emerging Markets were down 1.0% for the week on weakness in Chinese markets to bring its gains for the year to 4.7%. 

• US Inflation data for July were generally better than forecasts. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for July showed a 3.2% increase in prices from a year-ago, up from 3.0% in June but slightly better than projections. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 4.7% in July from a year ago, down from 4.8% in June. However, Producer Prices for July rose a bit worse than expected, which will be monitored to see if those flow into consumer prices.

• Corporate earnings for Q2 have fallen less than expected. With 84% of companies having reported their results, the earnings decline for the S&P 500 for Q2 is 5.2%, better than the 5.7% decline expected heading into earnings season. Of those firms reporting, 79% have beaten earnings expectations whlie 65% have beaten revenue forecasts, both above their respective 10-year averages.

Market Data

for the week ending 8/11/2023