Stocks Finish Q1 Strong After Mixed Holiday Week:
Stocks finished narrowly higher on the week as investors processed mixed economic news. Notably, all three major market indices posted gains for Q1 2024, reflecting an overall positive start to the year.
Stocks Finish Strong
Markets slipped for the first half of the four-day week as investors took a breather after the prior week’s gain. Conflicting economic news on Monday and Tuesday contributed to the slide. New home sales in February slipped 0.3 percent over the prior month but increased by 5.9 percent from the prior year. Durable goods orders—everything from washing machines to helicopters—rebounded 1.4 percent in February, beating expectations and recouping some of January’s 6.9 percent drop.1,2,3
Stocks rallied on Wednesday, including a fresh record close for the Standard & Poor’s 500. An upward revision to consumer sentiment on Thursday helped the rally along. The markets are closed on Friday when the much-anticipated inflation report called the Personal Consumption and Expenditures (PCE) is released, which could set up a volatile Monday.4
Source: Charles Schwab & Co., Inc
Doubters & Believers
Getting a straightforward read on consumers this week was challenging. The Conference Board reported on Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index remained essentially unchanged—as it has for the past six months—showing consumers were generally pessimistic about the future.
But on Thursday, the University of Michigan’s consumer-sentiment survey showed consumer confidence hit a 2½-year high in March. It suggested that consumers had gained more confidence that inflation would drop and alleviate some pressure on household finances. Friday’s PCE report may give some additional insights into consumer confidence.5,6
Sources: Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. and U.S. Department of the Treasury
This Week: Key Economic Data
Source: Bloomberg Finance L.P.
This Week: Companies Reporting Earnings
Source: EarningsWhispers
At Concord Asset Management, we design portfolios for the long run, with the ability to navigate various market cycles. However, you can have confidence that we are monitoring these market-moving events, and we will make reasonable, tactical adjustments as necessary.
Author
Gary Aiken
Chief Investment Officer
Concord Asset Management
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Footnotes and Sources
1The Wall Street Journal, March 28, 2024
2CNBC, March 25, 2024
3Reuters, March 26, 2024
4CNBC, March 26, 2024
5MarketWatch.com, March 28, 2024
6The Conference Board, March 26, 2024
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