Stock Market This Week (US): Nasdaq fell as oil price rise hurts

Stock Market This Week (US)

The S&P 500 lost 0.1% on the week, posting its first losing week in four weeks. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.1% this week, while the 30-stock Dow rose 0.6%. Let us look at how the holiday-shortened week shaped up.

US stock market this week: Stocks movement this week

The US market started the week on Monday on a high, with Dow and S&P 500 gaining, while Nasdaq was down 0.27% for the day. Investors showed resilience despite an oil output cut from OPEC+ that threatens to stoke recession and inflation fears. West Texas Intermediate futures gained 6.28% to settle at $80.42, and Brent futures rose 6.31% to settle at $84.93.

On Tuesday, the US market stocks fell as investors assessed a spike in oil prices and what that could mean for the global economy. The market lost because of the latest job opening report. In February, the number of available positions dropped below 10 million for the first time in nearly two years. Dow and S&P snapped their four-day winning streak. 

The US equity market fell on Wednesday as investors shifted away from growth stocks amid signs that the US economy is weakening. High-growth tech stocks were under pressure, with Zscaler and CrowdStrike falling 8.3% and 6.6%, respectively. Chip stocks were also under pressure, with Advanced Micro Devices falling more than 3%.

On Thursday, the tech stocks lifted S&P 500 into the green. Tech-heavy NASDAQ outperformed, boosted by a 3.78% rise in Google-parent Alphabet and a 2.55% rally in Microsoft shares. The expansion in private payrolls was well below expectations in March. Semiconductor stocks continued to perform well.

The US market was closed on Friday on account of Good Friday.

Key highlights of the week:
 

Semiconductor stocks gain week: The semiconductor sector wrapped up the last week its best quarter since 2020, with stocks such as Nvidia posting their best quarterly stretch since 2001. Year to date, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) is up more than 20%. Those moves come amid excitement around artificial intelligence and investors flocking into tech in their search for safety amid a potential economic downturn.

New Robotics ETF launch: Asset management firm, VanEck, announced the launch of its newest thematic ETF, focused on robotics and industrial automation. The ETF will trade under the ticker IBOT and carries a management fee of 0.47%. The new fund joins a varied list of the sector and thematic ETFs at VanEck, including funds focused on semiconductors (SMH) and video gaming and esports (ESPO). The fund’s top holdings include chipmaker Nvidia and industrial companies like Siemens and Rockwell Automation.

Job opening report: According to the Labor Department’s JOLTS report, available positions totaled 9.93 million in February, a drop of 632,000 from January’s downwardly revised number. It was the first time vacancies fell below 10 million since May 2021. Professional and business services saw a slide of 278,000 job openings in the month to lead decliners.

Goldman Sachs on higher deposits: Economists at Goldman said that banks are raising the rates they pay customers on their deposits, and that could pressure the institutions’ profitability. Banks are grappling with two key factors that will spur them to raise the rates they pay on deposits. First, the rapid pace of interest rate hikes has resulted in an array of competing products for savers, including CDs and money market funds. Second, it’s also much easier for investors to move their funds via mobile banking to a competing institution with higher-yielding offerings.

This is not investment advice. Investments in the securities market are subject to market risk, read all the related documents carefully before investing. Past performance is not indicative of future returns.