Market Roundup: Overall Green Week Despite Red Start and Finish

Economy/Stock Market

The markets began the week on a down note as Healthcare stocks traded lower despite the step up by Financial stocks. West Texas Intermediate crude oil settled at $40.36 a barrel, which led to Energy stocks ramping up on Tuesday alongside a continued upswing in crude oil. Indices closed in positive territory on Wednesday on a variety of economic news. The Producer Price Index slipped 0.1% in March, while core goods prices rose 0.1% for the second straight month. Retail sales dipped 0.3% in March. Discounting cars, sales jumped 0.2%. Additionally, the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, which covered economic activity from mid-February through March, showed a modest to moderate rate of expansion in the majority of districts. Indices closed slightly mixed on Thursday. The Dow and S&P 500 added fractional gains, while the NASDAQ ended the session marginally in the red. Bank stocks in the Financials sector led advancers while Technology stocks retreated. Indices closed Friday’s session in red territory with stocks this time retreating on a variety of economic news. West Texas Intermediate crude lost its weekly gains to settle at $40.36 a barrel, where it began the week. In a preliminary measure, the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey showed a 1.3 point dip to 89.7 for April, versus expectations of an uptick to 91.8. 

Market Roundup: Down Week Nearly Erases Year-to-Date Gains

Economy/Stock Market

The week began with a pullback in oil prices, which eroded the market’s recent rally. Commodities prices slipped, weighing on Energy and Materials shares. Many investors took comfort in Friday’s solid reading on U.S. manufacturing activity and the March jobs report, which further eased worries about the strength of the U.S. economy. However, concerns about sluggish global growth remained. The decline continued Tuesday with every sector in the S&P 500 falling, all but erasing the index’s gains for the year. The two-day losing streak was snapped Wednesday, led higher by Healthcare sector stocks. Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s March meeting showed policymakers left interest rates unchanged and reduced the number of planned rate increases to two from four. The market’s gains were short-lived as Financials and Energy stocks led the decline on Thursday. Friday’s gains were not enough to push the week into green territory, despite the rally in West Texas Intermediate crude.