John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended December 30th

Value trounces growth

The past year produced a huge performance gap between the value and growth equity styles, with value recapturing the lead following a strong run for growth in recent years. A U.S. large-cap value index fell nearly 8% on a total return basis while its growth-style counterpart dropped 29%.

Painful year

After posting gains in the three previous years, the S&P 500 turned sharply negative in 2022, producing its worst annual result since 2008. For the year, the index finished down 18.1% on a total return basis; the Dow’s setback was comparatively modest at 6.9% while the NASDAQ lagged with a 32.5% decline.

Bond price drawdown

The year was an especially difficult one for bond investors, as a U.S. investment-grade fixed-income benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, finished down 13%. As for government bonds, the yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond finished 2022 around 3.88%, up from 1.51% at the end of 2021.

Jobs ahead

A labor market update due out on Friday is likely to be the most closely watched economic report in the first week of 2023. The release covering December follows a report that showed the economy generated 263,000 new jobs in November—the fourth consecutive month with jobs gains in the 200,000 to 300,000 range and the 23rd month in a row with at least 200,000.

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