John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended June 19th
Retail therapy
U.S. retail sales posted a record gain in May, jumping nearly 18%, as thousands of stores reopened after coronavirus-related restrictions were eased across much of the nation. However, May’s retail surge followed two months of record declines, and last month’s sales were still down 8% from February.
Fed’s shopping list
The U.S. Federal Reserve has expanded its efforts to bolster credit markets and support economic recovery. The Fed announced that it will now buy individual corporate bonds, in addition to the bond exchange-traded funds that it already had been purchasing under a program introduced in March.
Back on track
After sustaining a bruising decline the previous week, the major U.S. stock indexes resumed their previously upward momentum, rising around 1% to 4%. However, most of the gains came early in the week, as stocks meandered on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
NASDAQ flirts with 10K
Nine days after eclipsing 10,000 for the first time, the NASDAQ briefly climbed back to that level in intraday trading on Friday, extending the index’s run of year-to-date outperformance. The S&P 500 was close to achieving a milestone of its own, as it moved within 4% of its level at the end of 2019.