The S&P 500 Broke A Seven-Week Losing Streak During The Past Week, Rallying 6.6% After Hitting Its Lowest Level Since March 2021 Last Friday. The Nasdaq (+6.8%) Outperformed Slightly While The Dow (+6.2%) Lagged A Bit But Was Able To Snap Its Longest Weekly Losing Streak Since 1932.
The first two sessions of the week saw some volatility, but the market rallied strongly after the S&P 500 managed to stay above last week's low during Tuesday's affair.
All eleven sectors finished the week in positive territory with the consumer discretionary (+9.2%) sector leading the way after underperforming earlier this month. The sector narrowed its May loss to 5.6%, largely thanks to a bounce in retail stocks after concerns about inflation and strength of consumer spending sent many of these names to their lowest levels in over a year. However, the past couple days saw renewed interest in retailers on hopes that the worst is in the past.
Mega cap names also did some heavy lifting with the likes of Apple, NVIDIA, and Tesla contributing to the rally during the second half of the week. The trio gained between 8.3% and 14.5%.
Last week's rebound in stocks that faced significant recent weakness masked another strong showing from the energy sector, which climbed 8.1%, extending its May advance to 16.9%. Crude oil, meanwhile, returned to its May high, climbing $4.72, or 4.3%, to $114.77/bbl for the week.
Treasuries recorded their third consecutive week of gains, drawing some strength from speculation that the Fed could pause its rate hikes in September. The 10-yr yield finished the week just a basis point above its 50-day moving average (2.73%).