Wall Street largely stumbled on Friday but still managed to post strong weekly gains. A powerful four-session winning streak that brought the Dow Industrials and the S & P 500 to all-time highs on Thursday was helped along by this week’s favorable update from the Federal Reserve. The Nasdaq , which was slightly higher on Friday, closed higher every day this week and finished at another record. Looking back on the week, the already rallying market breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday and got a further boost after the Fed signaled that three interest rate cuts will still prove appropriate by the end of the year. That answered a big question going into the central bank’s two-day March meeting following two months of hotter inflation readings. Fed policymakers kept rates unchanged, as expected. On Tuesday, housing starts for February came in better than expected. We hope to see that strength continue in the coming months as increasing supply would help keep housing inflation down. Shelter costs are a large and unavoidable line item for American consumers, and they have an outsized impact on the overall direction of key inflation indicators. Looking ahead, we get a key macroeconomic update and hear from several companies that can provide further insight into the real U.S. economy, particularly how small- and medium-sized businesses are doing. Economic data Friday is the big day. That’s when the government releases February personal income and spending data. Contained in this report is the Fed’s favorite inflation gauge: the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index. The consensus estimate, according to FactSet, is for a year-over-year increase of 2.5% in headline PCE and a 2.8% increase in core PCE, which excludes food and energy prices. On Thursday, the government is out its final reading on fourth-quarter 2023 gross domestic product (GDP). While backward-looking, it provides insight into how the economy held up into the end of last year. It also speaks to…
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