Modestly Higher
The major domestic stock market indexes closed last week modestly higher. After the Monday holiday, equities jumped higher on Tuesday as the S&P 500 saw its best one-day advance since November to close at another record high. Consumer staples led the way and large caps led small caps. Stocks mostly drifted lower for the rest of the week.
Earnings reports were the week’s primary market driver. By week’s end, FactSet was calling for an earnings decline of 0.2 percent for the S&P 500. As recently as last week, FactSet was calling for a 10 percent gain. However, concerns over the possibility of a government shutdown, realized late Friday evening, also muted any optimism and limited gains.
U.S. Treasury paper suffered a down week as U.S. assets were not particularly desirable from a global perspective due to the increasing likelihood of a forced government shutdown. By comparison, foreign assets were desirable, and European stocks had a good week, tempered somewhat by currency strength from the euro. Asian stocks had a similarly good week.
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