John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended June 16

Holding tight—for now

U.S. Federal Reserve officials signaled that they could lift interest rates again at their next meeting July 25–26 if the economy and inflation don’t cool further. The Fed on Wednesday kept its benchmark rate unchanged—breaking a string of 10 consecutive meetings in which it has lifted rates—and projections showed that 12 of 18 Fed officials expected to raise rates at least two more times this year.

Busy central banks

The European Central Bank lifted its deposit rate by a quarter of a percentage point to the highest level in more than two decades. In contrast, the Bank of Japan kept its key rate unchanged at an ultralow level and Chinese policymakers cut key medium-term lending rates.

Retail resilience

Despite inflationary pressures and fears of a recession, U.S. consumers ramped up their spending in May. Retail sales rose 0.3% relative to the prior month, extending the positive trend from April’s 0.4% month-over-month gain.

Buyback scorecard

U.S. companies spent about 2% more to buy back their shares in this year’s first quarter compared with last year’s fourth quarter. Share repurchases by companies in the S&P 500 climbed to nearly $216 billion, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. Despite the quarterly gain, last quarter’s figure was short of the record $281 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2022.

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