The Strength of the Market is: Strong but Weakening

Stocks managed to post a solid weekly gain as investors kept an eye on the fragile two-week ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran. The S&P 500 jumped more than 3% last week, its best week since November. The Nasdaq rose more than 4% and the Dow Jones gained around 3%. Oil prices swung up and down with concerns of the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Recent Inflation reports showed that inflation was up 3.3% on an annual basis, including a 10.9% jump in energy costs due to the conflict in Iran.

Economic reports from last week came back mostly negative:

•Consumer Credit - lower than expectation

•Personal Income - lower than expectation

•Inflation (Consumer) - in-line with expectation

•Gross Domestic Product - lower than expectation

•Consumer Sentiment - lower than expectation

•Jobless Claims - higher than expectation

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