The first full trading week in March was yet another consequential one for market participants. Whether you like to trade domestic stocks, foreign currencies or other equities, what happened this week will likely have an impact on both your short and long-term money management strategy.
The first major scheduled news announcement came on Monday with the release of the ISM Manufacturing PMI. It revealed that manufacturing came in at 50.3, which shows that the sector is in the midst of a minor expansion. The latest figure was slightly lower than the projected 50.6 and was also lower than last month’s reading of 50.9.
On Wednesday, the ISM Services PMI was released. As has become the norm over the past couple of years, services came in well above 50 with a February reading of 53.5. This was higher than the expected 52.5 and was also higher than last month’s 52.8.
Also on Wednesday, the ADP version of the nonfarm payroll report was made public. It found that there were 77,000 new jobs created in February compared to a projected 141,000. The result was also well below last month’s reading of 186,000. Tariffs and other indications of an economic slowdown are cited as reasons for the lack of hiring.
On Thursday, unemployment claim data was released. Over the past seven days, there were 221,000 claims for benefits, which was lower than the projected 234,000 applications. It was also lower than last week’s reading of 242,000.
Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) came out with its version of the nonfarm payroll report. It found that the economy added 151,000 jobs, which was slightly less than the 159,000 analysts expected. However, last month’s reading was revised lower to 125,000 new jobs. Therefore, it’s possible that February’s count will be revised as well next month.
Average hourly earnings were up .3 percent over the past month, which was in line with expectations. However, last month’s average hourly earnings were revised downward to .4 percent. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1 percent from 4 percent a month ago.
The S&P 500 continued its losing streak this week falling 3.5 percent to close at 5,770. The index is now sharply negative for the year having lost another 209 points over the past five trading days. On Monday, the market opened at 5,982, which was the weekly high. On Friday afternoon, the market made its low of the week at 5,676 before reversing and gaining some ground.
Like the S&P 500, the Dow also was a loser this week giving up 1,164 points to close at 42,801 at the end of the week. The market would make its high of the week on Monday morning when it started at 43,993 before reversing and trending down through Friday. On Friday morning, the market hit its low of 42,220.
Finally, Nasdaq also lost significant ground this week having closed off 3.73 percent since Monday. This represents a loss of 706 points for the index that finished at 18,196 at the end of the day Friday. As with the other indexes, the Nasdaq started the week at its highest point having opened at 18,932 on Monday morning. On Friday, the market would make its low of the week of 17,805.
Although tariffs were among the top international stories of the week, many nations were scheduled to release important data. For instance, Australia announced on Monday that retail sales were up .3 percent over the past month while the gross domestic product (GDP) was up .6 percent over the last quarter. On Friday, Canada announced that its unemployment rate remained steady at 6.6 percent while the economy grew by 1,100 jobs over the past month.
The upcoming week is likely going to be another interesting one as further tariffs could come into play. Inflation data is expected to be released on Wednesday while price change data will come out on Thursday. The JOLTS report as well as the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment report are other important data points to consider this week. International traders may be interested in the Bank of Canada (BOC) making an interest rate decision on Wednesday as well as GDP data coming from Great Britain Friday morning.