S&P 500 posts weekly losses as mixed earnings, inflation weigh
The US markets posted losses in the holiday-shortened week, as investors weighed mixed earnings results from banks, and inflation soared to a 40-year high. Here are the major highlights for the week.
Daily market movement
The week started on a tepid note, with US stocks ending lower on Monday. Investors were cautious ahead of the release of important inflation data on Tuesday. Treasury yields sparing to a 3-year high weighed on Tech stocks.
US stocks fell extended decline on Tuesday, as inflation peaking to a 43-year high weighed on sentiments. Tech stocks fell as concerns over higher interest rates led to fears on valuation.
Shares bucked the trend on Wednesday, as the corporate earnings season kicked off with mostly positive results, and traders looked past surging inflation numbers.
However, the shares resumed their decline on Thursday, posting weekly losses in the holiday-truncated period. The markets are closed on Friday on account of holiday due to Good Friday. For the week, the Dow Jones ended 0.8% lower, S&P 500 lost 2.1% and Nasdaq was down 2.6%.
Key highlights of the week:
Inflation soars to a 43-year high: Consumer prices surged 8.5% from a year ago. This is higher than street expectations. The inflation is at its highest level since 1981. The high inflation numbers led to fears of a tighter monetary policy from the Federal Reserve. The Fed had already raised rates at its March meeting, and it’s expected to hike more throughout the year. The expectation is that the Fed could hike the rate by 0.50% in its next meeting.
Markets this week: US markets ended with losses in the week, which saw the release of the first major corporate earnings reports of 2022. Value stocks continued to outperform growth, stocks amid higher treasury yields. Financials lagged within the S&P 500 Index, dragged lower by JPMorgan Chase after it missed Wall Street’s estimates. Energy shares outperformed.
Mixed earnings from Wall Street giants: Major banks including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo posted their first-quarter earnings. Goldman Sachs has reported a robust EPS of $10.76 beating street estimates of $8.89 per share. The revenue rose to $12.93 billion, beating estimates. Morgan Stanley also beat expectations due to stronger-than-expected revenues from equity and fixed-income trading. However, Wells Fargo missed estimates, leading to a 4.5% drop in its share price on Thursday.
Elon Musk wants 100% of Twitter: Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter for a $43 billion valuation. He has offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 share in cash.