The S&P 500 Index, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and S&P MidCap 400 Index all moved to record highs, seemingly helped by a series of positive earnings surprises. Further reflecting the strong investor sentiment, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) also fell to its lowest level since the beginning of the pandemic. Along with real estate and utilities stocks, health care shares led the gains within the S&P 500, boosted by insurance providers.
U.S. stocks surged for a second consecutive session Friday as retail sales were surprisingly strong and companies' quarterly results continued to impress investors. Major indexes notched their best week in months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.6% on the week, while the S&P 500 added 1.8%. The Nasdaq Composite was up 2.2%.
Top Sectors last Week:
October [8], 2021, Tbilisi – the multilateral development bank (“MDB”) EBRD issued two more Georgian Lari denominated bonds with the coupon rate linked to 3-month TIBR (Tbilisi Interbank Interest Rate) on September 30th 2021, and October 8th 2021 respectively. The Georgian Lari (“GEL”) floating rate bonds in amount of GEL 92 million and GEL 93million have coupon linked to the 3-month TIBR and maturity of five year and 3 year and 9 months respectively. These were the EBRD’s fifth and sixths successful bond issuances in GEL to be lead managed by JSC Galt & Taggart.
Stocks and U.S. Treasurys fell Friday after a weak jobs report added to speculation about the Federal Reserve's plan to taper its bond-buying program. September was the slowest month for job growth this year, with just 194,000 jobs added compared to consensus estimates for a half-million, signaling a slowing of the labor market recovery and perhaps complicating the Fed's decision on when to begin scaling back monetary support. Inflation concerns pushed long-term interest rates higher, with the benchmark 10-year yield rising to 1.61% after adding 15 basis points on the week.
On Friday stocks rallied lowering the weekly losses after investors got some good news: a government shutdown was averted, and there's new hope in the battle against Covid-19, with a promising antiviral pill from Merck potentially cutting hospitalizations by 50%. During the last week the large-cap benchmarks and Nasdaq Composite index recorded their biggest weekly drops since February and rounded out the worst monthly declines since the onset of the pandemic, seemingly weighed down by inflation and interest rate fears.
Stocks rebound from sell-off
A Storm might be brewing in US markets. Investors are not very confident about near future of the markets. The jittery mood was demonstrated by this week's $45 billion in capital outflows from money market funds, the largest outflow of the year. During the last week the S&P 500 slipped 0.6%, the Nasdaq Composite closed down 0.5% and the Dow Jones average fell just 0.1%. The weekly drop in the Dow was the third in the row, which has not happened since September of 2020.Many on Wall Street are warning of a correction. They say it's a matter of when, not if.
Last week was not very good for US stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 761 points, or 2.2%. It was the largest weekly decline since mid-June. The S&P 500 shed 1.7% on the week, snapping a two-week winning streak. The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.6%, also snapping a two-week run of gains.
Interesting News:
The much-awaited August jobs report dropped on Friday and it looked awfully bleak. The official numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the economy added 235,000 jobs in August, which was far from what economists were expecting as the economy tries to snap back from the pandemic. The experts were expecting a gain of 750,000 new jobs during August.
Investors seemed to take comfort on Friday from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who affirmed in his virtual Jackson Hole speech that the Fed might begin reducing its $120 billion-a-month bond-buying program till the end of 2021. He also indicated that even so, the central bank was in no hurry to raise interest rates.
