John Hancock Weekly Market Recap: Week Ended June 15:

Source: jhinvestments

Mixed markets

After posting strong performance the previous week, the major U.S. stock indexes made modest moves in different directions. The Dow fell nearly 1% for the week, the NASDAQ rose more than 1%, and the S&P 500 was little changed overall.

Small-cap record

The Russell 2000 Index, a small-cap stock benchmark, climbed to a record high on Tuesday. The index was up nearly 10% year to date through Friday, significantly ahead of U.S. large- and mid-cap indexes.

Picking up the pace

As expected, the U.S. Federal Reserve approved its third interest-rate increase in six months. Fed policymakers also signaled that they could accelerate the pace of rate hikes this year, resulting in the potential for four rate increases in 2018, up from an earlier projection of three.

Europe’s go-slow approach

While the U.S. tightened its monetary policy, the European Central Bank indicated that it’s likely to keep interest rates unchanged and at low levels at least through the summer of next year. The bank also announced plans to wind down its bond-buying economic stimulus program by the end of this year

Japan goes easy

Japan’s central bank on Friday took a different tack than the U.S. Federal Reserve, as it maintained its long-standing embrace of accommodative monetary policies and ultralow interest rates. The move followed a recent slowdown in Japan’s inflation rate, which remains far below the central bank’s 2% target.

Source: John Hancock Investments