The First Slice for Tuesday, March 5, 2024
The U.S. stock market is currently playing a game of red light, green light. After a stellar performance with the S&P 500 hitting its 16th winning week in the last 18, investors are now pausing and watching closely. Why? Because a bunch of important events are lined up this week, including congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and the release of the nonfarm-payrolls report on Friday.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average went down 97.55 points, or 0.3%.
- The S&P 500 edged shed 6.13 points, or 0.1%.
- The Nasdaq Composite fell 67.43 points, or 0.4%.
So, what’s been fueling this stock market rally? Experts like Bill Merz from U.S. Bank Wealth Management believe it’s due to strong growth data. This suggests that the combination of monetary and fiscal policies might not be as restrictive as previously thought. But to keep this winning streak going, investors are hoping for some positive vibes from Fed Chair Powell about potential rate cuts and no shocking news from the jobs data.
Speaking of the Federal Reserve, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic shared that with the labor market booming and growth above trend, there’s no immediate pressure to cut interest rates. However, he also hinted that this could change.
In other news, Bank of America has raised its price target for the S&P 500, predicting it could reach 5,400 by year-end. But hold your horses – they also caution that a near-term pullback is quite possible.
And it’s not just U.S. stocks that are having a party. Bitcoin has soared past $65,000, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 has zoomed past 40,000, while gold took a little dip after hitting a record high on Friday………….
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