Market has bad breadth
A surge in mega cap tech stocks helped lift the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Friday, with the S&P holding above the 5,000 level for the first time and extending its record high, after December's revised inflation reading came in lower than first reported. On Friday,...
Time for a reality check
Stocks extended their record setting run on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones average setting fresh record closing highs, as a blockbuster jobs report bolstered the outlook for corporate profits. The sizzling US labor market is good news for American workers...
The Roaring Twenties or the Crazy Nineties?
This week provided more proof that the US economy is steaming ahead. Economic growth in the fourth quarter trounced forecasts and gross domestic product increased 2.5% for the year. On Friday, there was even more good news for the US on the inflation front. The...
Markets hit all time highs
The stock market closed the week on a strong note, with the S&P 500 finishing at a fresh record high, boosted by a rally in semiconductor stocks and other big tech names on optimism as the University of Michigan's survey showed consumer sentiment improved in...
Inflation was transitory after all
Stocks mostly fell Friday but edged higher for the week, as traders examined the first batch of fourth quarter earnings and a pair of closely watched inflation reports. An unexpected downtick in producer price inflation provided a source of optimism, although this was...
Getting it right in 2024
Stocks closed marginally higher Friday following a stronger than expected U.S. jobs report, but all three benchmark averages declined to begin 2024. For the shortened holiday week, the Nasdaq Composite index slumped 3.2%, its biggest drop since September, while the...
Welcome to the year end rally
U.S. stocks ended the week higher even as some Federal Reserve speakers pushed back on euphoria around interest rate cuts following the central bank's dovish pivot earlier in the week. Overall, stocks registered their seventh straight week of gains, which was the best...
Fresh Highs Await
Stocks closed higher Friday following a strong monthly jobs report to clinch a sixth straight week of gains, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hitting their highest closing levels since early 2022. More broadly, the drop in the unemployment rate to 3.7%...
Out of the woods but where is the meat?
Stocks pushed higher Friday, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones indexes recording their highest levels in more than a year, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell supported the market consensus view that key interest rates have peaked. The three major stock market...