The Strength of the Market is: Strong

Stocks posted back-to-back weekly losses. Last week, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones were both down roughly 1.9% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.3%. On Friday, a hot jobs report dampened Wall Street's expectations for more interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year (Now, only one interest rate cut is expected this year). The unemployment rate, which was projected to remain at 4.2%, fell to 4.1% during the month and interest rates on the 10-year US Treasury spiked to its highest level since late 2023.

Economic reports from last week came back mixed:

•Vehicle Sales - higher than expectation

•Job Openings - higher than expectation

•Private Employment - lower than expectation

•Total Employment - higher than expectation

•Consumer Credit - lower than expectation

•Consumer Sentiment - lower than expectation

•Jobless Claims - lower than expectation

This week, investors will look for guidance from economic reports like Small Business Optimism, Inflation, Manufacturing, Retail Sales, Housing and Jobless Claims.