John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended October 2nd
Back on track
The major U.S. stock indexes rose 1% to 2%, snapping a string of four consecutive weekly declines. At Friday’s close, the S&P 500 was down 6% from its early September record high, the NASDAQ was down 8%, and the Dow was 4% lower.
Mixed jobs report
Although the U.S. economy added 661,000 jobs in September, the latest monthly employment report provided further evidence of a slowdown in the pace of the economic recovery and in the labor participation rate. Of the 22 million jobs lost in March and April, roughly half have since been recovered.
Six-month surge
The performance of the NASDAQ from April through September was the index’s best two-quarter result since 2000, while the S&P 500’s performance was the best since 2009. The NASDAQ surged 45% over the past six months, while S&P 500 gained more than 26%.
Earnings ahead
With earnings season just around the corner, expectations are low, but not as low as they were a few weeks ago. On average, analysts surveyed by FactSet are expecting third-quarter profits of companies in the S&P 500 to drop by 21% compared with the same period a year earlier. That’s down slightly from the 22% decline that had been forecast in early September.
Source: https://wmr.jhinvestments.com/