Wall St Week Ahead: High market hopes raise stakes as US stocks face inflation data, earnings

Wall St Week Ahead: High market hopes raise stakes as US stocks face inflation data, earnings

Investors’ hopes are running high to start 2024, which could set up U.S. stocks for a rocky stretch if some expectations are not met. Despite a shaky start to the year, the S&P 500 stands only around 2% below a fresh record high. Most investors have maintained a rosy view on everything from the U.S. … Read more

Wall Street ends sharply lower, posts weekly losses; Mideast fears increase

Wall Street ends sharply lower, posts weekly losses; Mideast fears increase

U.S. stocks ended sharply lower for the day and week on Friday as investors worried about more interest rate hikes and the Israel-Hamas conflict spreading. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell more than 1% each. All of the S&P 500 index’s 11 sectors ended lower in broad-based selling, with technology and financials among the biggest … Read more

Emerging-market stocks sink to lowest since 1987 relative to US equities

Emerging-market stocks sink to lowest since 1987 relative to US equities

Emerging-market stocks just crossed another grim milestone: They’ve tumbled to the lowest level in 36 years relative to US equities. MSCI Inc’s benchmark for developing-nation equities slipped to begin the week as Israel’s retaliation against attacks by Hamas sparked fears of a broader conflict between the US and Iran. That took the gauge, as of … Read more

S&P 500 ends near flat as energy, defensive sectors counter megacap declines

S&P 500 ends near flat as energy, defensive sectors counter megacap declines

The S&P 500 ended nearly flat on Friday as gains in defensive sectors and energy offset weakness in megacap growth stocks, while investors looked toward next week’s speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Megacap technology-related growth stocks dipped, with Alphabet down 1.9% and Tesla falling 1.7%, as investors fretted that interest rates could stay … Read more

Asian stocks mixed after tame US CPI; dollar steady

Asian stocks mixed after tame US CPI; dollar steady

Shares in Asia fluctuate after US stocks ended steady on Thursday, as investors balanced cooling inflation with the prospect interest rates will remain elevated. Australian equities pared early declines while mainland China and Hong Kong shares whipsawed after the opening bell. US equity futures gained ground after the S&P 500 eroded an early advance to … Read more

Wall Street Week Ahead: After first-half rally, stocks’ July winning streak on the line

Wall Street Week Ahead: After first-half rally, stocks’ July winning streak on the line

A U.S. stocks rally is cruising into a month that has proven strong in recent years, though equities must navigate employment data and an earnings season that could be precarious, with the Federal Reserve bent on raising U.S. interest rates. The S&P 500 defied recession fears and a U.S. banking crisis to notch a 15.9% … Read more

Wall St slips on mixed earnings, Fed’s rate path in focus

Wall St slips on mixed earnings, Fed’s rate path in focus

Wall Street’s main indexes slipped on Friday as investors digested a mixed bag of earnings reports, while uncertainty around the outlook for U.S. interest rates and the economy kept them on edge. A survey showed U.S. business activity accelerated to an 11-month high in April, at odds with growing signs that the economy was in … Read more

Global stocks in new phase, needs more risk-taking capacity

Global stocks in new phase, needs more risk-taking capacity

Equity markets worldwide are adjusting to the new normal, marked by persistent inflation leading to higher interest rates. The structure of this inflation, however, is a little complex as there are several factors at play ranging from the war in Europe to issues of China, along with a few long-term challenges such as changing demographics … Read more

Stock market timers pony up $25 billion and get another thrashing

Stock market timers pony up  billion and get another thrashing

For all its twists and turns, the 2022 market has also been a story of patterns repeating. Stocks fall, shorts cover, quants buy, then everyone jumps back in just in time to get torched. It’s happening again. After a month of drawing down positions, investors poured $25 billion in stocks in the week through Wednesday … Read more

Wall Street ends lower for third straight day as recession worries rise

Wall Street ends lower for third straight day as recession worries rise

U.S. stocks dropped for a third straight session and suffered a second straight week of losses on Friday as fears continued to mount that the Federal Reserve’s campaign to arrest inflation would tilt the economy into a recession. Equities have been staggered since the U.S. central bank’s decision to raise interest rates by 50 basis … Read more