While equity markets remained relatively dormant, there was still plenty of activity this week. Roughly 40% of the S&P 500 reported quarterly earnings, Fed Chairman Powell shared an optimistic view on the economy, and the housing market continued to accelerate.
Earnings – Forty percent of companies in the S&P 500 reported earnings this week. This included the top 5 largest names in the index (AAPL, MSFT, AMZN, FB, GOOGL), which make up over 20% of the total market capitalization of the entire index. Many of the big names reported significant increases in both top-line and bottom-line numbers. However, guidance was mixed, as many major players forecasted future growth, but not at such an accelerated pace.
Fed Commentary – Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell spoke earlier this week, indicating that the Fed has no near-term plans to curb its current monetary policy. Chairman Powell said that “the economy is a long way from our goals”, and substantial further progress must be achieved before the committee considers tightening their policy.
Housing Market – Housing prices continue to accelerate, as current U.S. home prices are at the highest level in the last fifteen years. Existing home prices in March were over 17% higher than in March 2020. Additionally, the lack of current inventory has caused new home sales to skyrocket, with March new home sales over 20% higher than last year.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is a price-weighted index composed of 30 widely traded blue-chip U.S. common stocks. The S&P 500 is a market-cap weighted index composed of the common stocks of 500 leading companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy. The NASDAQ Composite Index is a market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The Russell 2000 is a market-cap weighted index composed of 2,000 U.S. small-cap common stocks. The Global Dow is an equally weighted index of 150 widely traded blue-chip common stocks worldwide. Market indices listed are unmanaged and are not available for direct investment.