The Federal Reserve (Fed) rhetoric was a headwind to risk assets this week. Current and former governors spoke openly about increasing interest rates in an “expeditious” manner. This leaves multiple 50 basis points hikes on the table for upcoming meetings.
Weakness in housing continued this week but is not necessarily indicative of a significant reduction in demand. Pending home sales dropped by 4.1% in February from January. All regions were down outside of the Northeast.
Last Wednesday China made comments that it intends to keep capital markets stable and support overseas listings. It was deemed to be similar in nature to European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s “Whatever it takes” speech that ended the euro crisis a decade ago.
In an unsurprising move, the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee voted to increase the federal funds rate by 0.25% to a range of 0.25-0.50%. The widely signaled moved is the start of an increase cycle.
Equities continued to face pressure with most major indices posting a new closing low this week. The downside was muted by a sharp rally on Wednesday that left most domestic indices down 2-4% on the week.
Russia-Ukraine war news dominated headlines this week contributing to market fluctuations. The S&P 500 is up 3.85% this week after sharp moves down last week. The largest contributor to performance was a 7.97% increase in the Energy sector.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to swift and significant responses from financial markets, commodity markets and numerous governmental bodies. And the push to take control of the country continues.
Equities fell sharply on the week and closed below their January lows. The S&P 500 ended the week down 5.6%. The NASDAQ has been lower for five consecutive days and recorded a 7.7% decline.
We saw a significant increase in prices in January. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) was up 7.5% year-over-year. Over the month, CPI was up 0.6% from December. Increases in food, electricity and shelter were the largest contributors to the rise in prices.