Fourth Weekly Loss in Five Weeks
Equities Retreat
U.S. stocks fell sharply last week, with the S&P 500 posting its worst weekly performance since reaching its 2022 low in June. The S&P 500 is now down nearly 10% from its most recent peak on August 16. Equities turned abruptly lower on Tuesday after a hotter-than-expected inflation report ignited fears for further aggressive Fed rate hikes. The Federal Reserve will announce their rate and policy decisions on September 21 (a 0.75% rate hike is widely expected).
For the Week...
The S&P 500 slumped 4.73%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,329 points (-4.13%) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 5.46%. The S&P 500 fell 4.32% on Tuesday, its worst single-day loss in two years.
Consumer Sentiment Improves
The University of Michigan’s preliminary September consumer sentiment index climbed to a five-month high of 59.5 from 58.2 in August. The improvement was led by falling gasoline prices, but the headline index missed forecasts for a slightly larger increase to 60.0. A separate measure of consumers’ current conditions rose to 58.9 from 58.6 last month yet is still far lower than 80.1 a year ago.
Materials Fall Most
All 11 S&P 500 sector groups posted negative returns last week, with Materials (-6.63%), Communication Services (-6.42%) and Industrials (-6.37%) down the most. Healthcare (-2.32%) Energy (-2.54%) and Consumer Staples (-3.48%) declined the least. Year-to-date, Energy (+45.43%) and Utilities (+5.66%) are still this year’s best performers and only gainers.
Treasury Yields Rise More
Treasury yields advanced another week with the 10-year benchmark Treasury yield climbing 0.13% to end Friday at 3.449%. The yield on two-year Treasury notes finished at 3.85% up 0.29%. The U.S. Dollar Index strengthened by 0.70% last week.
This report is created by Cetera Investment Management LLC. For more insights and information from the team, follow @CeteraIM on Twitter.