John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended September 15

Inflation’s persistence

The main benchmark of U.S. inflation climbed at its fastest pace since mid-2022, as the Consumer Price Index rose at an annual rate of 3.7% in August and 0.6% on a month-to-month basis. Higher energy prices fueled much of the increase; excluding energy and food prices, core inflation rose at a more modest 0.3% on a month-to-month basis.

Oil’s comeback

The price of U.S. crude oil climbed for the third week in a row and eclipsed $90 per barrel on Thursday for the first time since last November. The price has climbed around 14% over the past three weeks amid renewed oil supply concerns.

Yields rise again

Concerns about the potential for further interest-rate increases continued to weigh on prices of U.S. government bonds, and the yield of the 2-year U.S. Treasury climbed back above 5.00% level that it had breached in late August. The yield of the 10-year Treasury rose on Friday to around 4.33%, near its year-to-date high set in August.

Fed ahead

The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at its two-day policy meeting that’s scheduled to end on Wednesday. At its most recent meeting in late July, the Fed approved an increase of a quarter-percentage point to a range between 5.25% and 5.50%—the 11th hike since March 2022.

Source: https://www.jhinvestments.com/weekly-market-recap