John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended June 9

Low volatility

An index that measures investors’ expectations of short-term U.S. stock market volatility has dropped to the lowest level since January 2020 after falling 31% from a recent high on May 24. The Cboe Volatility Index sank on Friday to 13.8, just above its level before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Labor market cracks?

Although the U.S. economy has recently continued to generate new jobs at a rapid clip, the latest weekly count of newly filed unemployment claims rose to the highest level since October 2021. Unemployment benefit applications rose to 261,000 for the period ended June 3, up from 233,000 the previous week.

Fixed-income checkup

Bond investors appeared to be in a wait-and-see mode ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting next week, as U.S. government bonds traded in a narrow range relative to that market’s year-to-date choppiness. The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond was trading at a yield of around 3.74% on Friday, up from 3.69% at the end of the previous week.

Fed ahead

With the U.S. Federal Reserve scheduled to conclude its next meeting on Wednesday, most observers expected that the Fed would keep its key benchmark interest rate unchanged at a range of 5.00% to 5.25%, potentially breaking a string of 10 consecutive meetings in which it has lifted rates. Investors will also be watching for any indications as to whether the Fed might shift back to a rate-hiking mode at its subsequent meeting ending July 26, if it chooses to keep rates unchanged at its June session.

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