US Markets – 2024 Week5 Update/Recap
US Markets Update – Overall, last week i.e. 5th week of 2024 closed at a very positive note for US Markets led by Tech and Large Cap Stocks. S&P 500 closed at life time high of 4958 level this week. NASDAQ Composite continued its rally to close at 52-week high level 15629 this week.
US Markets Summary of the 2024 Week 5:
Among Global indexes, at broader level all the indices posted solid gains except for Small Cap stocks.
NASDAQ Composite rose by 1.123% i.e. (173.59 points) for the week.
S&P 500 rose by 1.383% (67.64 Points) closed at another record higher level cementing bull market theory.
RUSSELL Index pack also rose higher this week barring small-cap index.
RUSSELL3000 (RUA) Global index rose by 1.203% (33.72 Points) ,
RUSSELL1000 (RUI) Large Cap index rose by 1.312% (35 Points) and
RUSSELL2000 (RUT) Small Cap index fell by 0.789% (15.6 Points) during the past week.
Dow Jones Industrial Average posted solid up-move of 545 Points i.e. 1.431% on weekly basis.
US Markets Update – Key heavy-weight stocks that ROSE on weekly basis:
- MSFT (MICROSOFT CORP.) up by 7.29 USD (1.805%) to close at 411.22 $ per share
- AXP (AMEX) rose by 4.98 USD (2.472%) to close at 206.41 $ per share
- MRK (MERCK&CO) up by 5.59 USD (4.627%) to close at 126.41 $ per share
- TESL (TESLA INC.) up by 4.66 USD (2.543%) to close at 187.91 $ per share
US Markets : Among the heavy-weight stocks that FALL on weekly basis are:
- GOOGL (Google) fell by 9.81 USD (6.443%) to close at 142.38 $ per share
- AAPL (Apple Inc.) fell by 6.57 USD (3.414%) to close at 185.85 $ per share
US Markets – Weekly change summary in Major Indices (2024 Week5)
DJIA (US30) rose by 545.19 points i.e., 1.431%.
NASDAQ COMP rose by 173.59 points i.e., 1.123%
S&P500 (SPX) rose by 67.64 points i.e., 1.383%
RUSSELL3000 (RUA) Global rose by 33.72 points i.e., 1.203%
RUSSELL2000 (RUT) Small Cap fell marginally by 15.60 points this week i.e., 0.789%.
RUSSELL1000 (RUI) Large Cap rose by 35 points i.e., 1.312%
US Markets – 2024 YTD change on the key Indices
On YTD basis, major indices rose sharply (2.5% to 4.1%) from 2023 closing levels and hovering around either 52-week high or life-time high, however, the small caps did not participated in overall rising trend this week too.
- Nasdaq Composite 617 Pts i.e. 4.114% UP at 15,629 (2023 Closing level 15011.35)
- Dow Jones 965 Pts i.e. 2.56 % UP at 38655 (2023 Closing level 37689.54)
- S&P500 (SPX) 189 Pts i.e. 3.958% UP at 4958.61 (2023 Closing level 4769.83)
- Russell3000 (RUA) 89 Pts i.e. 3.235% UP at 2837 (2023 Closing level at 2748.21) rep. Global US stocks.
- Russell1000 (RUI) 94 Pts i.e. 3.602% UP at 2,716 (2023 Closing level at 2622.14) rep. Large Cap stocks.
- Russell2000 (RUT) 64 Pts i.e. 3.174% DOWN at 1962 (2023 Closing level 2027.07) rep. Small Cap Stocks.
US Markets – US Bond Yields since 2024 beginning
10 Years, 20 Years and 30 Years maturity bond yield closed at weekly higher level to stay above 4% even after a sharp decline on Thursday after Fed minutes were digested by traders.
Due to an optimism after FOMC statement and Fed Interest rate decision (post Fed 2-days Monetary policy review meeting), a sharp decline in Yield rates were seen (10 years Yield rate had fallen even below 4%). However, during the week’s last trading session, Yield rates bucked up again to close at 4% + levels. This is largely attributed to the fact that as per Powell, there is no hurry for rate cuts unless objective of 2% inflation is not assured.
Yield Curve Trend in 2024 (Courtesy: ustreasuryyieldcurve.com)
US Markets – What’s the buzz this week and for next week?
U.S. Conference Board Consumer Confidence indicating level of consumer confidence in economic activity. Published on 30th Jan, reading came in little more than the forecast (114.8 vs forecast of 114.2). Higher readings point to higher consumer optimism.
On 31st Jan, ADP National Employment Report was made public which shows Non-farm Employment Change in private employment. This report is considered to be a good predictor of the government’s non-farm payroll report. Lesser than the forecast reading for Jan24 came in (107k vs forecast of 145k). Notably, this reading is a measure of the monthly change in non-farm, private employment, based on the payroll data of approximately 400,000 U.S. business clients. Lower reading value indicates bearish/negative sentiments for USD while an higher than expected reading is taken as positive/bullish sentiments for the USD.
Most important event for the week was the FOMC Statement and Fed Interest Rate decision. As expected, it gave no surprise this week to the market i.e. The US Federal Reserve led by Powell left the benchmark interest rates unchanged at 5.25 per cent – 5.50 per cent for the fourth straight meeting, in line with Street estimates.
FOMC Statement for communicating the monetary policy after 2-days review meeting got released on 31st Jan 2024 highlighting expansion of the economic activity at a solid pace. It noted that Inflation has eased over the past year but remains elevated. The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. The Committee is strongly committed to returning inflation to its 2 percent objective. Powell said, “We are prepared to maintain the current target range for the federal-funds rate for longer if appropriate”.
What’s will be the key indicators to watch in next week?
In the next week 6 (03 Feb-08 Feb, 2024), there will be no major economic events to impact market mood. Traders will be watching Initial jobless claims, S&P Global services PMI (Jan24). Also, Bureau of Economic Analysis will be releasing Imports, Exports and Trade Balance figures for the month of Dec23.
Credit: Investing.com: Economic-Calendar
