WEEKLY SOUND BITES;
- Major indexes ended mostly lower, but the S&P and Nasdaq indexes all reached new highs before surrendering their gains on Friday…It was the busiest week of Q1 Earnings season, with 180 companies of the S&P 500 reporting results…Analysts are currently expecting overall earnings for the S&P 500 to have increased by over 30% with Q1 2020…So far this shows the fastest rate of growth in over a decade and significantly higher than earlier estimates, thanks to an unusually high percentage of earnings beats…
- On Thursday, the Commerce Department reported that US GDP expanded at an annualized rate of 6.4% in Q1, supported by a healthy increase in government spending…most analysists also expect growth in Q2 to approach double digits on the recovery in consumer services, sturdy investment growth, and the flow of direct government spending from the American Rescue Act…Weekly jobless claims fell to a pandemic-era low of 553,000, and the Conference Board reported that its index of U.S. consumer confidence in April hit its highest level (121.7) since February 2020…Manufacturing signals also remained strong…Core (excluding defense and aircraft) capital goods orders rose 0.9% in March, reversing a 0.8% drop in February…Markets did not appear to react strongly to the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s policy statement this past Wednesday as interest rates were unchanged under the FEDs dovish tone…
- European shares ended little changed after an increase in eurozone bond yields prompted investors to take profits at near record levels…The World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) European chief said the threat from the coronavirus “remains present” in Europe despite a drop in infection rates…The eurozone economy may have entered a recession, preliminary seasonally adjusted data from Eurostat showed…This early reading, estimates that Q1 GDP decreased by 0.6% after contracting by 0.7% over the preceding three months…Germany’s economy contracting by 1.7% was the main driver of this weakness and reflected the imposition of additional lockdown restrictions…
- Chinese shares recorded a weekly loss as the government’s continued crackdown on technology firms’ dampened buying sentiment… Slightly weaker-than-expected Purchasing Managers’ Index readings for April disappointed investors…
Enjoy This Week’s Round-Up
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