John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended September 30th

September swoon

The stock market’s late summer downturn extended into September and the major U.S. indexes fell for the third quarter in a row. The S&P 500 and the Dow both posted monthly declines of around 9% and the NASDAQ dropped more than 10%—all steeper than the prior month’s losses.

PCE inflation rises

Despite the U.S. Federal Reserve’s efforts to contain inflation, a monthly inflation metric that the Fed uses as its preferred gauge of price trends rose more than expected. Excluding volatile food and energy, consumer prices rose 4.9% in August from a year earlier, up from 4.7% the previous month as measured by the personal consumption expenditures price index.

Rough-and-tumble bond market

The yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond rose modestly in what was otherwise an unusually volatile week in the bond market. The yield surged as high as 3.99% on Tuesday to the highest level in 14 years. The next day, it tumbled to 3.71% before ending Friday’s trading at around 3.80%.

Jobs ahead

A monthly U.S. labor market update due out on Friday will show whether the strong—but moderating—jobs growth recorded in recent months extended into September. In August, the economy generated 315,000 new jobs—down from 526,000 in July—while the unemployment rate rose to 3.7% from 3.5%.

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