John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended November 16th
Tech trouble
The S&P 500 finished the week with gains on Thursday and Friday, but that wasn’t enough to offset the market’s shaky start to the week. The biggest decline came on Monday, when weakness in the technology sector weighed on the broader market. The S&P dropped 2.0% and the NASDAQ sank 2.8%.
Reversing course
Stocks couldn’t maintain their positive momentum of the previous two weeks as the major indexes fell around 2%. As a result, the S&P 500 Index remained close to its level at the start of November but was nearly 7% below its record high reached in September.
Inflation checkup
The government’s Consumer Price Index rose at the fastest monthly rate of the year, but much of the inflation gauge’s 0.3% October increase was attributed to a rise in gasoline prices. On a year-over-year basis, prices climbed 2.5% last month, up from a 2.3% annual rate in September.
Shopping season
U.S. retail sales exceeded expectations in October, which could bode well for retailers heading into the holiday shopping season. Sales increased 0.8% last month compared with September’s level, topping most economists’ expectations.
Source: https://wmr.jhinvestments.com/