Weekly Market Recap – August 25, 2023
For the first time in a month, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ witnessed gains, although the Dow slightly ended in the red. The NASDAQ notably excelled, even with almost a 2% dip on Thursday.
On Friday, U.S. Fed Chair Jerome Powell, addressing from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, announced that the Fed is set to consider more interest rate hikes but will do so with caution. He noted that the impacts of previous hikes are still unfolding, and the decision for further increases will depend on upcoming economic data.
Speculation of more rate hikes caused a surge in U.S. Treasury bond yields. The 2-year yield reached about 5.06% on Friday, a figure it last consistently surpassed back in 2000.
In the housing market, existing home sales in the U.S. for July dropped to its lowest since 2010, registering a 2.2% decrease from June 2023 and a 16.6% decrease from July 2022, as reported by the National Association of Realtors.
Recent reports highlighted a deceleration in U.S. economic momentum. Thursday saw stocks decline as July’s new orders for durable goods dipped by 5.2%, marking the largest monthly reduction in over three years. Business activity also dwindled to its weakest in half a year, as reported on Wednesday.
European business activity also took a hit, declining to its lowest in almost three years as per a purchasing managers’ survey. Similarly, business activity in Germany experienced its largest monthly decrease in over three years.
U.S. crude oil prices dropped for a consecutive week, reversing some of its prior seven-week uptrend. As of Friday, oil was priced approximately at $80 per barrel, a decrease from its $84 mark on August 9.
A forthcoming U.S. labor market report will reveal if the recent slowdown in job growth persisted into August. The past July report showed 187,000 new jobs, which missed many economists’ projections but was similar to June’s figures. The unemployment rate for July dipped to 3.5%.
Major U.S. Economic Reports
| Report | Period | Actual | Previous |
| Existing home sales | July | 4.07 million | 4.16 million |
| S&P flash U.S. services PMI | Aug | 51.0 | 52.3 |
| S&P flash U.S. manufacturing PMI | Aug | 47.0 | 49.0 |
| New home sales | July | 714,000 | 684,000 |
| Initial jobless claims | Aug 19 | 230,000 | 240,000 |
| Durable-goods orders | July | -5.2% | 4.4% |
| Durable-goods minus transportation | July | 0.5% | 0.2% |
| U Mich consumer sentiment (final) | Aug | 69.5 | 71.2 |
Closing Prices for the Week
| Contract | Close |
|---|---|
| Dow Jones Industrials Average | 34,346.90 |
| Nasdaq Composite | 13,590.65 |
| S&P 500 Index | 4,405.71 |
| CBOE Volatility Index | 15.68 |
| S&P GSCI | 585.01 |
| U.S. Dollar Index | 104.077 |
| 10-Year T-Note (Sep ’23) | 109-140 |
| Crude Oil WTI (Oct ’23) | 79.83 |
| Natural Gas (Oct ’23) | 2.657 |
| Gold (Dec ’23) | 1,939.9 |
| Silver (Sep ’23) | 24.234 |
| Corn (Dec ’23) | 488-0 |
| Wheat (Dec ’23) | 621-6 |
| Soybean (Nov ’23) | 1387-6 |
| Coffee (Dec ’23) | 153.15 |
| Sugar #11 (Oct ’23) | 24.83 |
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