Wall Street closed out last week as the best week of 2024 - the S&P 500 added nearly 3.9%, its best week since November 2023, the Nasdaq gained 5.2% and the Dow Jones advanced 2.9%. The S&P 500 is now just 2% away from its mid-July record high. Economic data helped jittery investors as retail sales came in much stronger than expected and weekly jobless claims fell - both offering evidence that recession fears may be overblown.
Economic reports from last week came back mixed:
•Small Business Optimism - higher than expectation
•Inflation (Producer) - lower than expectation
•Inflation (Consumer) - in-line with expectation
•Manufacturing (Philadelphia) - lower than expectation
•Manufacturing (New York) - higher than expectation
•Retail Sales - higher than expectation
•Homebuilder Sentiment - lower than expectation
•New Residential Construction - lower than expectation
•Consumer Sentiment - higher than expectation
•Jobless Claims - lower than expectation
This week, investors will look for guidance from economic reports like Manufacturing, Housing, National Economic Activity and Jobless Claims.
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