Risk assets generally rose in February with both US large-cap and global equity indices advancing 2%-3%. The US economic recovery has continued with improvements in the labor market, corporate earnings, and gross domestic product (GDP).
Last week, risk assets generally trended sideways as investors watched for progress on the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out and a new fiscal stimulus bill. The S&P 500, a broad basket of large US companies, has advanced more than 4% so far in 2021.
US equity indices advanced last week, with the S&P 500 ending at a new all-time closing high. The increase is likely attributable to a combination of positive events, such as progress toward additional government stimulus, continued roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines, and better-than-expected fourth quarter results from S&P 500 companies.
US stocks rose last week after declining in January. With the week’s gain of nearly 4.7 percent, the S&P 500 index is now positive for the year by 3.6 percent.
January was an eventful month with the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States, the beginning of corporate earnings season, and the continued fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. For the month, the global stocks (as represented by the MSCI ACWI index) fell 0.5% while US large caps (S&P 500 index) fell 1%.
US stocks, as measured by the S&P 500 index, rose nearly two percent last week as investors remained optimistic regarding the prospects for an end of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and a sustained economic recovery. This week will have no shortage of potentially market-moving events.
We recently held our Quarterly Market Update Webinar with Bob Doll, CFA®, of Nuveen Asset Management as our featured speaker. Watch the replay to hear Bob's investment outlook and his 10 Predictions for 2021.
This week, Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. Based upon the list of priorities communicated so far, the administration appears focused on ramping up vaccine distribution and economic relief in his first few days in office.
The S&P 500, a broad measure of large publicly-traded US companies, advanced to another all-time high last week as the Democratic Party gained control of the Senate via the run-off elections in Georgia. The Democrats will control both houses of Congress when President-elect Biden is sworn in, which makes the prospect of significant additional fiscal stimulus more likely, both in the form of direct cash payments to Americans as well as infrastructure spending.
Markets wrapped up the year on a positive note, as the S&P 500 gained 3.8 percent during December and closed the year up over 18%. After declining nearly 34 percent in less than five weeks in the spring when the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated, the large cap US stock index spent the majority of the remainder of 2020 recovering.