Author: OneAscent

The Friday following Thanksgiving, typically a quiet day in equity markets, was anything but quiet this year as news of a significantly mutated COVID-19 variant discovered in South Africa led to a “sell first ask questions later” trading day. The S&P 500 index declined 2.3%, but many “reopening” stocks like airlines and cruise lines declined 10% or more.

Electric vehicles, also referred to as “EVs”, are getting renewed interest from both consumers and investors after Rivian stock skyrocketed after going public with the sixth largest initial public offering in US history. The EV market, which has been dominated by Tesla for the past decade, is getting more crowded by the day as newer companies such as Rivian, Lucid, Lordstown, and Nikola join larger established automotive companies like Ford, General Motors, and Toyota in launching new options.

Inflation dominated financial headlines this week, as the latest US Consumer Price Index (CPI) reading was higher than anticipated. On Wednesday, the latest year-over-year CPI reading of 6.2% was released, marking the biggest increase in more than three decades.

Equity markets rallied again last week, as investors applauded a host of positive news throughout the week. The much-awaited Federal Reserve meeting wrapped up and while they shared plans to gradually taper their bond buying program between now and mid-2022, Fed President Jerome Powell indicated they are in no hurry to begin raising rates.

Risk assets continued their upward trajectory last week, with nearly every major equity index posting positive returns through Friday. The S&P 500 (a proxy for large-cap US stocks) was up 1.7% for the week and the MSCI ACWI index (a proxy for global large-cap stocks) climbed 1.3%.

Equity markets surged higher last week as earnings season got off to a great start. Several large banks reported strong earnings, which helped push equity markets higher.

After initially falling early in the week, equity markets crawled back into positive territory by the end of week despite a weaker than expected jobs report on Friday. The US economy added 194,000 jobs in September, which dropped the unemployment rate to 4.8%.