The Investor Guide to Fidelity Funds for June 2025 is AVAILABLE NOW! June Data Files Are Posted Below Market Perspective: Economic Data Remains Positive Despite Tariff Worries Equities extended their rally […]
Click Here to view today’s Global Momentum Guide The Nasdaq increased 2.01 percent last week, the S&P 500 Index 1.88 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average 1.60 percent, the […]
The final trading week in May as conflicting court rulings surrounding tariffs created some temporary volatility. There were also a few scheduled news events that market participants were eagerly anticipating.
The first scheduled news announcement came out Tuesday morning when the CB Consumer Confidence report was issued. It found that sentiment rose significantly over the past month, jumping to 98 from 85.7 just a month ago.
On Wednesday afternoon, the minutes from the most recent FOMC meeting were made public. The main takeaway is that officials are still unsure how tariffs will impact the economy. Although indications are that prices are not increasing in a meaningful way, there is still a possibility that economic conditions change rapidly. Therefore, FOMC members will likely have tough decisions regarding fiscal policy as they must choose to either accept data at face value or keep rates where they are to create long-term flexibility.
On Thursday, preliminary gross domestic product data for the first quarter came out. It revealed that the economy likely contracted by .2 percent during the first three months of the year. However, this beat expectations of a drop of .3 percent. Unemployment claims were also released Thursday morning and found that 240,000 requests for benefits were made compared to an expected 227,000.
Friday saw the release of the Core PCE Price Index, which is the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. On a monthly basis, it increased by .1 percent, which was consistent with expectations. Meanwhile, the most recent consumer sentiment and inflation expectation reports were released by the University of Michigan. Consumer sentiment rose slightly to 52.2 from 50.8 last month while respondents believe that inflation will be at 6.6 percent in 12 months.
On Wednesday, the federal U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that tariffs issued per the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were invalid. The IEEPA was used to justify the reciprocal tariffs issued on April 2. However, the decision was reversed on appeal Thursday pending further legal action, and even if the injunction were to stand, the president would have other legal avenues to impose duties on foreign goods.
The S&P 500 was up 2.55 percent over the past five trading days to close at 5,911. This represents a gain of 147 points for the index that spent most of the week gaining ground. On Tuesday, it opened at its low of the week of 5,867 peaked on Wednesday at 5,933 following the release of the FOMC minutes.
The Dow was up 2.24 percent over the past five days to close at 42,270 on Friday. That represented a gain of 926 points for the index that remained stuck in a trading range after breaking out on Tuesday. The market made a low of 41,970 on Tuesday morning and a weekly high of 42,4426 on Wednesday.
Finally, the Nasdaq was up 2.38 percent over the last five trading days to finish at 19,113. The index made its high of the week on Thursday morning reaching 19,273 before reversing and hitting its low of the week 18,870 the following day.
In international news, Canada announced on Friday that its GDP was up by .1 percent on a monthly basis. On Tuesday night, Australia announced that its inflation rate was 2.4 percent on an annual basis. Also on Tuesday night, New Zealand announced that it was cutting its key interest rate from 3.5 percent to 3.25 percent.
The upcoming week is sure to be another interesting one for market participants as there will surely be more questions surrounding the implementation of tariffs. A few scheduled news announcements include the monthly nonfarm payroll readings in addition to the JOLTS report and a speech from Jerome Powell.
Click Here to view today’s Global Momentum Guide The MSCI EAFE Index gained 1.16 percent last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 2.47 percent, the Nasdaq 2.47 percent, […]
The final full trading week in May was another interesting one for market participants as a slew of news came out. Although there wasn’t a lot of scheduled news on the calendar, the passage of the Trump administration’s spending bill in the House was a dominant story that influenced equity markets. The Senate has already promised that there will be changes to the House version, so it’s unlikely that anything will pass for a few more days.
On Thursday, the first bit of scheduled news came out when the unemployment claims data for the past week was released. For the last seven days, there were 227,000 requests for benefits compared to an expected 230,000 requests.
The Flash Manufacturing PMI came in at 52.3 compared to an expected 49.9. This indicates that manufacturing has picked up in the United States. The Services PMI also came in above 50 with a reading of 52.3 for the month of April. This was also above expectations as analysts had predicted a reading of 51 for April.
On Friday, new home sales data was released, and during the previous month, there were 743,000 new homes sold. This was above the projected 694,000 and also more than the 670,000 such properties sold in March.
The S&P 500 lost 85 points this week, which was a loss of 1.44 percent. The market made a high of 5,964 on Monday afternoon before losing ground for most of the rest of the week. On Friday morning, it made a low of 5,771 before reversing and paring some of its losses.
Like the S&P 500, the Dow also closed lower this week losing 735 points to finish at 41,603 at the close of business Friday. This represented a loss of 1.73 percent for an index that has gained just over 8 percent for the month. The market made its weekly high of 42,810 on Monday afternoon before reversing and losing ground the reset of the week. It made a low of 41,404 on Friday morning.
Finally, the Nasdaq would also give up ground this week, closing 172 points lower on Friday compared to Monday’s open. The result was a .91 percent loss for the past five trading days. The market closed the week at 18,737 after ranging between a weekly high of 19,228 set on Wednesday and a weekly low of 18,606 set on Friday.
In international news, Canada announced on Friday that retail sales were up .8 percent on a monthly basis. Earlier in the week, Great Britain announced that inflation had accelerated to 3.5 percent on an annualized basis.
The upcoming week should be another consequential one. On Friday, the Core PCE index will be released, and it’s expected to show that inflation rose by .1 percent in April. FOMC meeting minutes as well as durable goods orders will be released as well.
Mutual Fund Investor Guide
1166 Main Street
Williamstown, MA 01267
888-252-5372
The Mutual Fund Investor Guide is completely independent of, and not affiliated with any investment firms or investment product providers. Our privacy policy can be found here. No representation is made that any account will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to those shown, and there are frequently significant differences between hypothetical performance results subsequently achieved by following a particular strategy. The Mutual Fund Investor Guide is not a registered investment advisor. PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT A GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS. All Investments involve risk including loss of principal. Copyright © 2013-2023 Mutual Fund Investor Guide. All rights reserved.
