John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended April 7th

Jobs resilience

A monthly gain of 236,000 U.S. jobs that was reported on Friday was the lowest since December 2020, but it marked the 27th straight month of solid job growth. The government also reported that unemployment slipped to 3.5% and wages rose at a moderate 0.3% in March relative to February, which could ease inflationary pressures.

Bond volatility

Yields of U.S. government bonds fell for the fourth week out of the past five, failing to extend the previous week’s gain.   The yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond fell to about 3.29% on Friday—down sharply from a recent peak of 4.07% on March 2. The yield of the 2-year note also dropped, falling to around 3.81%.

Earnings decline

Expectations are low heading into earnings season, which opens this week as major banks begin reporting first-quarter results. As of Friday, analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting companies in the S&P 500 to post an average earnings decrease of 6.8% compared with the same period a year earlier—the biggest earnings decline since the second quarter of 2020.

Price check ahead

A Consumer Price Index report scheduled to be released on Wednesday will show whether the recent moderation in U.S. inflation extended into March. In February, inflation fell for the eighth consecutive month, posting a 6.0% annual rate—the lowest level since September 2021.

Source: https://wmr.jhinvestments.com/