Wall Street ended the week lower, despite the S & P 500 notching an all-time closing high Thursday and the Nasdaq Composite hitting an intraday record Friday before dropping more than 1% in the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average registered its worst week since October, falling 0.93%. The S & P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.26% and 1.17%, respectively. Earnings season also continued to wind down on a largely positive note. According to FactSet, 99% of S & P 500 companies have reported results; 73% of companies reported an upside earnings surprise, while 64% reported better-than-expected revenue results. Within the Club, we heard this week from Foot Locker on Wednesday, then from Costco and Broadcom on Thursday. Foot Locker disappointed, though the magnitude of the sell-off in response seemed overdone. Costco and Broadcom delivered quality, but imperfect reports, opening the door for profit-takers to act following sizable runs in both stocks. The big economic data drop of the week arrived Friday with February’s nonfarm payrolls report . The jobs report certainly served to support the “soft landing” thesis, as more-than-expected job additions were offset partially by a higher-than-anticipated unemployment rate and softer annual wage inflation. That’s the right mix for investors who want to see downward pressure on inflation without a spike in unemployment that threatens economic growth. In the days leading up to the main event, we also got a private sector jobs number from payroll processing firm ADP and the February ISM Services report . Both came in slightly weaker than estimates. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department’s January factory orders report Tuesday showed a larger-than-expected drop. It is quiet on the Club earnings front in the week ahead, but several key macroeconomic updates will command the stage. The center of attention is Tuesday’s February consumer price index report . Economists are looking for a 3.1% annual increase at the headline level…
Read the full article here
