John Hancock: Weekly Markey Recap Week Ended April 24

Top-heavy earnings

Approaching the midpoint of earnings season, a handful of U.S. mega-cap technology stocks are expected to continue generating a disproportionate share of overall earnings growth. Analysts expect the group of stocks known as the Magnificent Seven to post average first-quarter growth of 22.8%, according to FactSet. In contrast, the other 493 companies in the S&P 500 are projected to produce growth of 10.1%.

Retail rebound

U.S. retail sales surged in March, but the increase was driven largely by higher gasoline prices. The overall rise of 1.7% followed a 0.7% increase in February and marked the fastest one-month gain in more than three years. Excluding gasoline, sales rose 0.6% in March relative to February.

Growth tops value

U.S. growth stocks outpaced their value counterparts for the fourth week in a row, chipping away at the value style’s year-to-date performance lead over growth. A growth benchmark gained more than 16% over the four-week stretch versus just 8% for its value counterpart.

Fed ahead

Bond market trading ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s next meeting continued to support expectations of a policy pause in the wake of recent rate cuts. Friday’s trading in rate futures markets implied a 99% probability that the Fed would keep rates unchanged when it concludes its two-day meeting on Wednesday, April 29, according to CME FedWatch. At its most recent meeting in mid-March, the Fed held steady after approving three rate cuts in late 2025.

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