S&P 500 closes worst week in two months: All eyes await January’s CPI data

 

The S&P 500 eked out a narrow gain in Friday’s session but still had the worst week in nearly two months.

Investors digested the most recent interest rate hike, economic data and recent commentary from Federal Reserve speakers. That caused intraday moves, as investors changed positions while predicting how the central bank will act on interest rates going forward.

However, looking ahead to this week, investors are readying for the latest consumer price index reading to see if inflation has once again cooled.

Economists polled by Dow Jones forecast a 0.4 per cent increase in headline CPI on a monthly basis and a 6.2 per cent gain from the prior year.

Overall, The broad index was up just 0.2 per cent to end the session. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.61 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 169.39 points, or 0.5 per cent.

Despite the Dow’s Friday gain, it still ended the week down 0.17 per cent. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite lost 1.11 per cent and 2.41 per cent, respectively, in what was their worst week since December.

In company news, Ride-hailing platform Lyft tanked more than 36 per cent after a disappointing fiscal fourth-quarter report. Lyft’s recovery from the pandemic is slower than its wait times, while Uber is zooming ahead.

Those are the latest reports in what has been considered an underwhelming quarter by Wall Street. With nearly 70 per cent S&P 500 companies reporting, around 70 per cent of those companies beat analyst expectations for the quarter. That’s a smaller share of companies surpassing expectations than the three-year historical average of 79 per cent, according to The Earnings Scout.

To S&P 500 sector related news, most finished higher, with Energy and Utilities leading the way, whilst Consumer Discretionary was the biggest laggard.

And to commodity news, oil prices have risen, after Russia said it will cut output by 500,000 barrels a day following a slew of Western bans and price caps on Moscow’s crude and oil products implemented over the last few months.

Brent crude futures were last up 2.13 per cent a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 2.10 per cent. The production cut equates to about 5 per cent of Russia’s latest crude oil output.

Futures

The SPI futures are flat.

Currency

One Australian dollar is buying 69.17 US cents (Fri: 69.33 US cents).

Commodities

Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.29 per cent gain.  Iron ore is 0.5 per cent higher at US$126.10 tonne.

Gold lost 0.2 per cent. Silver fell 0.3 per cent. Copper dropped almost 2 per cent and oil gained 2.1 per cent.

Figures around the globe

Across the Atlantic, European markets closed lower. London’s FTSE fell 0.4 per cent, Frankfurt lost 1.4 per cent while Paris closed 0.8 per cent lower.

In Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell over 2 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.3 per cent lower.

On Friday, the Australian sharemarket closed 0.8 per cent lower at 7,434.

Ex-dividends

Bailador Technology Investments (ASX:BTI) is paying 3.5 cents fully franked
Dicker Data (ASX:DDR) is paying 2.5 cents fully franked
Plato Income Maximiser (ASX:PL8) is paying 0.55 cents fully franked

Dividends payable

Transurban Group (ASX:TCL)

Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.

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