John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended July 29th
GDP contracts
GDP contracted at -0.9% in the second quarter of 2022. This decline followed a contraction of -1.6% in the first quarter, fanning fears of a recession.
Fed policy tightening
In continued efforts to dampen inflation, the U.S. Federal Reserve enacted a 0.75 percentage point rate hike on Wednesday taking its benchmark rate to a range of 2.25% to 2.50%. This is the Fed’s second consecutive 0.75 percentage point interest-rate hike.
Stocks rally
The major U.S. stock indexes rallied Wednesday afternoon, after the Fed hiked rates, to post gains of around 1% to 2%. The NASDAQ Composite Index had its biggest one-day percentage gain in two years, surging 4.1% on Wednesday.
Jobs report ahead
A monthly U.S. labor market update due out on Friday will show whether June’s strong jobs growth extended into July. In June, the economy generated 372,000 new jobs—exceeding most economists’ forecasts—while the unemployment rate held steady at 3.6% for the fourth month in a row.
Source: https://wmr.jhinvestments.com/