US Markets Update – Rally Continues with Bulls strong grip- NASDAQ COMP, S&P 500 tops the race

US Markets Update – 2024 Week6 Update/Recap

US Markets Update – Continuing the winning streak, 6th week of 2024 showed another records and highs for Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 Indices. For the first time ever, S&P closed at 5026.61 levels which is a new record of life time high. NASDAQ Composite too continued its rally to rise just 21 points shy by 1000 points rally since beginning of year 2024. NASDAQ COMP close at 52-week high level 15990.66 this week, i.e. 979 points gain since 2023 closing.

US Markets Summary of the 2024 Week 6:

US Markets Update – Among Global indexes, at broader level all the indices posted solid gains mainly Tech and Small Cap stocks.

NASDAQ Composite rose by 2.314% i.e. (361.71 points) for the week.

S&P 500 rose by 1.371% (68 Points) closed at another record higher level cementing bull market theory.

RUSSELL Index pack also rose higher this week .

RUSSELL3000 (RUA) Global index rose by 1.510% (42.84 Points) ,

RUSSELL1000 (RUI) Large Cap index rose by 1.462% (39.72 Points) and

RUSSELL2000 (RUT) Small Cap index rose by 2.408% (47.26 Points) during the past week.

Dow Jones Industrial Average also posted slight up-move of 17 Points i.e. 0.044% on weekly basis.

US Markets Update – Key heavy-weight stocks that ROSE on weekly basis:

• GOOGL (Google) rose by 6.62 USD (4.650%) to close at 149 $ per share
• TESL (TESLA INC.) rose by 5.66 USD (3.012%) to close at 193.57 $ per share
• AXP (AMEX) rose by 6.06 USD (2.936%) to close at 212.47 $ per share
• MSFT (MICROSOFT CORP.) rose by 9.33 USD (2.269%) to close at 420.55 $ per share
• AAPL (Apple Inc.) rose by 3 USD (1.614%) to close at 188.85 $ per share

US Markets Update : Among the heavy-weight stocks that FALL on weekly basis are:

• MRK (MERCK&CO) down by 0.96 USD (0.759%) to close at 125.45 $ per share
• SNAP (SNAP INC.) down by 5.94 USD (34.84%) to close at 11.11 $ per share (Fall was due to disappointment on Revenue figures reported past week).

US Markets Update : Among the small-cap stocks that remained active on weekly basis are:

• COHR (COHERENT) rose by 26.9% to close at 62.35 $ per share
• TTMI (TTM TECHNOLOGIES) rose by 13.9% to close at 16.12$ per share
• AVNW (AVIAT NETWORKS) rose by 13.4% to close at 32.68$ per share
• HEAR (TURTLE BEACH) rose by 10.3% to close at 12.47$ per share

US Markets – Weekly change summary in Major Indices (2024 Week6)

NASDAQ COMP rose by 361.71 points i.e., 2.314%

S&P500 (SPX) rose by 68 points i.e., 1.371%

DJIA (US30) rose by 17 points i.e., 0.044%.

RUSSELL2000 (RUT) Small Cap rose sharply by 47.26 points this week i.e., 2.408%.

RUSSELL3000 (RUA) Global rose by 42.84 points i.e., 1.51%

RUSSELL1000 (RUI) Large Cap rose by 39.72 points i.e., 1.462%

US Markets – 2024 YTD change on the key Indices

On YTD basis, major indices rose sharply (upto 6.5%) from 2023 closing levels breaking records of 52-week high or life-time high, however, the small caps did not well participated in overall rising trend on yearly basis while posted strong come-back in the last week trade.

• Nasdaq Composite 979 Pts i.e. 6.524% UP at 15,990 (2023 Closing level 15011.35)
• Dow Jones 982 Pts i.e. 2.606 % UP at 38671 (2023 Closing level 37689.54)
• S&P500 (SPX) 257 Pts i.e. 5.383% UP at 5026 (2023 Closing level 4769.83) which is historic high.
• Russell1000 (RUI) 134 Pts i.e. 5.117% UP at 2,756 (2023 Closing level at 2622.14) rep. Large Cap stocks.
• Russell3000 (RUA) 132 Pts i.e. 4.794% UP at 2880 (2023 Closing level at 2748.21) rep. Global US stocks.
• Russell2000 (RUT) 17 Pts i.e. 0.84% DOWN at 2010 (2023 Closing level 2027.07) rep. Small Cap Stocks.

US Markets update – US Bond Yields since 2024 beginning

10 Years maturity bond yield reached below 4% during this week but could not sustain to close as such. All 3 major bond yields – 10 Years, 20 Years and 30 Years closed at above 4%.

Yield Curve Trend in 2024 (Courtesy: ustreasuryyieldcurve.com)

What’s the buzz this week from key economic indicators?

US Markets Update : S&P Global Services (PMI) – Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) was published by Markit Economics on 05th Feb 2024 based on survey from executives in private sector service companies. Actual data reported was 52.5 against a forecast of 52.9. An index level of 50 denotes no change since the previous month, a level above 50 signals to an improvement whereas below 50 denotes to the deterioration.

Initial jobless claims published by Department of Labor on 08th Feb 2024 came at 218K which was below forecast of 221K, the reading was positive for the USD.

Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Dec23 Imports and Exports figures which were better than estimates signalling towards continuous growth in US economic activities.

Largely US markets are seen gaining ground due to an optimism on account of much-due Interest Rate Cuts vis-a-vis softening Inflation. During FOMC and Monetary policy review meetings, it was noted that the US economic activity is expanding at solid pace.

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”.

Key economic indicators to watch in next week

In the next week 7 (12 Feb-16 Feb, 2024), major economic events that traders will be watching out –

CPI and Core CPI for Jan24 – MoM and YoY levels

Retail Sales and Core Retail Sales for Jan24 – MoM and YoY levels, which was better than estimates last month.

PPI (Producer Price Index) and Core PPI for Jan24 – MoM and YoY Levels

Credit: Investing.com: Economic-Calendar