John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended June 21

Midyear deja vu

Approaching the midpoint of 2024, the U.S. stock market’s top-performing sectors are the same pair that led the market in 2023. As of Friday, information technology led year to date with a nearly 29% average return followed by communication services with 25%. In full-year 2023, information technology’s average return was about 58% and communication services posted 56%.

Retail slump

U.S. retail sales fell short of expectations in May, barely rising from the prior month’s figure. Sales rose 0.1% in May after recording a 0.2% decline in April. In contrast, sales rose 0.6% and 0.9% in March and February, respectively.  

Housing setback

High mortgage rates appear to be weighing on the U.S. housing market, as sales of previously owned homes fell for the third month in a row. The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes fell 0.7% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.11 million. 

Price check ahead 

A report scheduled to be released on Friday could clear up some of the recent uncertainty over inflation’s trajectory. The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index is the U.S. Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge for tracking inflation. The index recorded annual rates of 2.5% in both January and February before rising to 2.7% in March and April. 

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