Last Week In ReviewLast week major indexes were mixed in generally quiet holiday season trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P MidCap 400 Index recorded modest gains, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped nearly 2% despite recording its best daily gain...
Fears over rising interest rates pushed the S&P 500 Index lower for a second consecutive week and to levels last seen in early November. Nearly every sector within the index recorded sharp losses, except for energy shares, which were supported by a partial rebound in oil prices.
Last week, stocks gave back much of the previous two weeks’ gains as some surprisingly strong economic data dampened hopes that the Federal Reserve might soon be able to curb its program of raising interest rates to cool inflation. The S&P 500 Index recorded its worst return in five weeks, while the small-cap Russell 2000 Index endured its worst week since late September.
Global Equities marched 7.76% higher in November following October’s 6.03% rally. The MSCI All-Country World Index is now up 14.26% in 2022’s final quarter, but still down 15.02% on the year. Stock prices soared on the final trading day in November after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in a speech to the Brookings Institute that the pace of interest rate hikes will likely slow as soon as its December meeting.
Last week the major U.S. equity indexes ended higher, buoyed by the possibility that the Federal Reserve may slow the pace of its interest rate increases. Growth stocks outperformed their value counterparts in the S&P 500 Index, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index posted solid gains. However, the “traditional economy” Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) took a bit of a breather and ended modestly higher.