US stocks wrapped another volatile session to end with gains on Friday while wrapping up the best week since November 2020.
| ticker | Security | load | Change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGE | 34754.93 | +274.17 | +0.80% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 4463.12 | +51.45 | +1.17% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 13893.837331 | +279.06 | +2.05% |
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose over 265 points or 0.7%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were higher by 1% and 2%, respectively.
For the week, the benchmarks saw big gains with Dow adding 5.5%, the Nasdaq over 8% and the S&P 500 over 6%.
During the week investors digested the first rate hike by the Federal Reserve since 2018, Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and elevated commodity prices.
Technology shares took the lead, while utilities moved lower as investors moved out of safer assets.
| ticker | Security | load | Change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QQQ | INVESCO QQQ NASDAQ 100 | 351.49 | +7.05 | +2.05% |
| XLU | UTILITIES SELECT SECTOR SPDR ETF | 70.84 | -0.60 | -0.84% |
Separately, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard dissented from his colleagues this week after their 25 basis point rate hike. He wanted a 50 to 75 basis point hike.
“The combination of strong real economic performance and unexpectedly high inflation means that the Committee’s policy rate is currently far too low to prudently manage the US macroeconomic situation,” he wrote.
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In the oil market, US crude fell over 4% for the week to close at $104.70 per barrel. While Brent, the global benchmark, fell to $107.93.
| ticker | Security | load | Change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USO | UNITED STATES OIL FUND LP | 74.64 | +0.96 | +1.30% |
| BNO | UNITED STS BRENT OIL FD LP UNIT | 29.77 | +0.32 | +1.07% |
Gas prices, per AAA, held steady just below $4.30 a gallon.
OIL ADDS TO GAINS ON LACK OF PROGRESS IN RUSSIA-UKRAINE TALKS
In stocks, FedEx shares fell after posting weaker than expected profits of $4.59 per share which missed the $4.64 Wall Street estimate and the company sees more headwinds in the current quarter.
“Staffing levels and the rapid acceleration in labor costs have stabilized and our network is operating at normal levels. Despite improvement in the labor headwind, volume levels in Q3 were softer than we had previously forecasted, in part due to omicron surge slowing customer demand. As such, we expect our second half ground margins will be lower than our previous expectations and not reach double digits” said COO Raj Subramaniam.
FEWER AMERICANS FILED FOR JOBLESS CLAIMS LAST WEEK
| ticker | Security | load | Change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FDX | FEDEX CORP. | 218.92 | -9.61 | -4.21% |
| UPS | UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC. | 219.82 | -2.55 | -1.15% |
GameStop shares curbed all losses to close higher even after posting an unexpected quarterly loss of $1.94 per share compared to a profit of $1.19 during the same period a year ago due to supply chain issues.
| ticker | Security | load | Change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GME | GAMESTOP CORP. | 90.78 | +3.10 | +3.53% |
Vaccine makers were also in focus as Moderna plans to seek approval for a fourth COVID-19 shot.
| ticker | Security | load | Change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRNA | MODERNA INC. | 178.93 | +10.67 | +6.34% |
| PFE | PFIZER INC. | 54.44 | +0.20 | +0.37% |
| BNTX | BIOTECH SE | 174.46 | +9.46 | +5.73% |
MORTGAGE RATES BREACH 4% FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2019
In economic news, the National Association of Realtors reported sales of previously owned homes fell 7.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.02 million units. That’s down from a 1-year high of 6.5 million in January amid rising prices and record-low inventory.
| ticker | Security | load | Change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOL | TOLL BROTHERS INC. | 53.43 | +1.40 | +2.69% |
| LEN | LENNAR CORP. | 92.50 | +3.21 | +3.60% |
| DHI | DR HORTON INC. | 85.70 | +2.52 | +3.03% |
At the same time, the Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index, also for February. was unchanged at 0.3%.
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Bitcoin traded around $40,000.
FOX Business’ Ken Martin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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