Weekly Market Bullets

for the week ending 9/13/2024

• US Equity Markets rebounded nicely last week as investors flocked to some beaten-down tech stocks ahead of this week's Fed meeting. The S&P 500 rallied 4.0% for the week to bring its gains for the year to 18.0%. The Nasdaq surged 6.0% for the week and is now up 17.8% for the year, while the Russell 2000 (small cap stocks) rose 4.4% for the week to bring its gains for the year to 7.7%.

• Global Equity Markets increased last week as the European Central Bank cut interest rates and Chinese equities rebounded from a 6-year low. Developed Markets rose 1.4% for the week and are now up 8.0% for the year. Emerging Markets were up 0.7% for the week to bring its gains for the year to 5.7%.

• US Interest Rates hit their lowest levels for the year amid steady inflation data. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for August rose 2.5% from a year ago, slightly better than expected and down from 2.9% in July. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, were up 3.2% from a year ago, in line with expectations and July levels. The yield on the US 10-Year Treasury hit its lowest level in over a year, closing at 3.65% vs. 3.72% the prior week. With the Fed meeting this week, investors are pricing in a 50% chance of a 0.25% rate cut and a 50% chance of a 0.50% rate cut.

• September has historically been the worst month of the year for equity returns. Since 1945, the average return for the S&P 500 in September is -0.6%. So far this month, the S&P 500 is down 0.4%. Encouragingly, the average monthly returns for October, November, and December are all positive, with November and December among the best performing months of the year historically.

Market Data

for the week ending 9/13/2024