The Week on Wall Street
A strong Friday rally triggered by fresh signs of moderating inflation pushed stocks into positive territory to begin the new year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.46%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 advanced 1.45%. The Nasdaq Composite index gained 0.98%. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, added 0.90% higher.1,2,3
Stocks Rally
A new year did little to change the market’s overall tenor as trading remained choppy. The first two trading sessions of a holiday-shortened week saw major averages swing wildly between gains and losses as investors balanced an improving outlook on inflation against concerns of faltering economic growth. Mega-cap technology and other high-growth names endured the brunt of the selling pressure.
Stocks took a decisive turn lower Thursday on strong private payroll growth and declining jobless claims, which heightened fears that the Fed would need to push interest rates higher for longer. However, stocks staged a powerful rally on Friday despite another strong job number, partly due to a deceleration in wage growth.
The Labor Market Juggernaut
The Fed has communicated that it’s looking for weakening in the labor market before it can feel confident higher rates are working to slow inflation. Employment reports last week indicated that the Fed might need to wait a bit longer for evidence of a fading labor market. Automated Data Processing’s (ADP) monthly employment report showed the private sector adding more jobs (235,000) than consensus estimates (153,000), with strong wage gains over the last year (+7.3%). Initial and continuing jobless claims fell in the last week of December and remained at pre-pandemic levels. Finally, the government’s monthly employment report showed employers adding a healthy 223,000 jobs in December.4,5,6
John Dombroski Jr. may be reached at (480) 991-1055 or
[email protected]
www.grandcanyonplanning.com
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T H E W E E K L Y R I D D L E
It is a short and simple word, and something that everyone needs. Put an ‘r’ on the end and you have a new friend, but if the first letter goes away, you are sad. What is this word?
LAST WEEK’S RIDDLE: What word doesn’t belong in this group: blast, paper, castle, coin, box, storm?
ANSWER: Coin. Why? Because you can put the word “sand” in front of all of the other words in the group.
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