John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended May 24th
May’s pain
It’s been a rough ride for stocks since the start of May, when the major indexes were at or near record highs. With a week left in May, the S&P 500 and Dow were down around 4% while the NASDAQ was nearly 6% lower.
Bond rally
For the fourth week in a row, investors bid up prices of government bonds, sending their yields to some of the lowest levels in more than a year. The yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond dropped at one point Thursday to 2.30%, the lowest since October 2017.
Trade gloom
While no additional tariff increases were announced, harsh words and actions between the United States and China appeared to widen the rift over trade issues. Talks between the two nations stalled early this month after U.S. officials accused China of backtracking on earlier commitments.
Brexit casualty
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday announced plans to resign on June 7 without completing the Brexit process, creating more uncertainty as the United Kingdom struggles to agree on terms of its pending divorce from the European Union. In currency markets, the British pound rose on Friday, breaking a string of daily losses.
Source: https://wmr.jhinvestments.com