Weekly Market Bullets

for the week ending 8/30/2024

• US Equity Markets were mixed last week as economic data likely favor a smaller Fed rate cut. The S&P 500 increased 0.2% for the week to bring its gains for the year to 18.4%. The S&P 500 Equal Weight outperformed for the week, up 0.9% and hitting a 52-week high, though only remains up 11.5% for the year. The Nasdaq was down 0.9% for the week with ongoing profit-taking in technology stocks and is now up 18.0% for the year, while the Russell 2000 (small cap stocks) dropped 0.1% for the week to bring its gains for the year to 9.4%.

• Global Equity Markets were also mixed last week with positive inflation data out of Europe boosting markets. Developed Markets rose 0.6% for the week and are now up 9.7% for the year. Emerging Markets were down 0.1% for the week to bring its gains for the year to 7.4%.

• Positive US economic data push rates higher. The second estimate of US economic growth from Q2 came in at 3.0%, up from the initial estimate of 2.8% and up from 1.4% in Q1. At the same time, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price index for July showed inflation up 2.5% from a year ago, steady with June's increase. Core PCE Prices, which exclude food and energy, were up 2.6% from last year, similar to June. As a result, the yield on the US 10-Year Treasury moved up to 3.90% vs. 3.80% the prior week.

• The US Savings rate dropped to a two-year low in July. The US savings rate fell to 2.9% in July, its lowest level since June 2022 (2.7%) and down from 3.9% in January. This could be due to higher prices (bad) or healthy consumption (good). Irrespective, while the US consumer has held up well and been a primary factor for healthy economic growth, the ongoing decline in the savings rate may mean future consumption could be more challenging.

Market Data

for the week ending 8/30/2024