Last week, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq broke their three-week losing streak. The rally was mainly led by the Mega-caps which explains how the S&P 500 rose 0.8% and the Nasdaq gained 2.3% while the equal weighted S&P 500, the Dow Jones, and the Russell 2000 were all down for the week.
Not surprisingly, the best-performing sectors this week were information technology (+2.6%), consumer discretionary (+1.1%), and communication services (+1.0%). The commonality is that they are all heavily weighted to Mega-cap stocks. The energy sector (-1.4%) was the biggest decliner this week with oil prices fading some on continued concerns about China’s weakening economy.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s delivered his annual speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium. In the speech, Powell reiterated the Fed’s 2.0% inflation target while adding that the process of getting inflation back down to 2.0% still has a long way to go. He acknowledged that the Fed will raise rates again if it is appropriate, but made no mention on when the Fed will start cutting rates.
Regarding quarterly reports, Nvidia delivered another blowout earnings report, replete with much stronger than expected guidance, yet the stock struggled to hold its recent gains following the report. Results from the retailers were a mixed bag but comments from Macy’s (M) about weakening consumer credit trends, and disappointing results and/or guidance from Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS), Dollar Tree Stores (DLTR) and Foot Locker (FL) that were attributed in part to theft, overshadowed the good reports.