THAT WAS QUITE A WEEK
Jeffrey Buchbinder, CFA, Chief Equity Strategist
Quincy Krosby, PhD, Chief Global Strategist
Jeffrey Roach, PhD, Chief Economist
Adam Turnquist, CMT, Chief Technical Strategist
Last week was a pivotal one for markets, with the S&P 500 coming off a 3% weekly decline the week before. In terms of economic data, we got our first look at first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) as well as the March reading of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) favorite inflation measure — the core PCE deflator. If that wasn’t enough to digest, over 150 S&P 500 companies reported quarterly earnings last week, including the first batch of big tech names. Stocks passed the test, with the S&P 500 up 2.7% for the week, recapturing most of the prior week’s losses despite a mixed GDP report and a double-digit decline in shares of social media giant Meta (META) on April 25, after its results. Here we recap the week’s events and check in on sentiment.