The stock market mostly declined on the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average squeezed out a slim gain, thanks to money flowing into blue chip names, while the other major indices registered losses due to renewed growth concerns.
There was not a ton of conviction to start the week after OPEC+ surprised markets with a 1.16 million barrels per day production cut announcement, which will start in May and continue through the end of the year. This sent oil prices on a tear, rising 6.4% this week to $80.70/bbl.
After the market digested the surprise move by OPEC+, growth concerns rose to the forefront and influenced price action for the remainder of the week. Lingering slowdown concerns were stoked by a slate of weak economic data and a contention by JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon in his annual shareholder letter that the regional banking crisis is not over yet and will have repercussions for years to come.
Many of the economic releases this week came in weaker than expected. Some of the more influential data included the March ISM Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing Indices, February JOLTS Job Openings and Factory Orders, March ADP Employment Change, and weekly jobless claims. The latter of which featured big upward revisions to last week's numbers.
The sticking point for stock market participants is a sense that slower growth will translate to further cuts to earnings estimates. Cyclical sectors were the biggest losers this week while defensive-oriented sectors enjoyed nice gains.
The industrials (-3.4%), consumer discretionary (-3.0%), and materials (-1.3%) sectors were the top laggards while the utilities (+3.1%) and health care (+3.1%) sectors rose to the top of the leaderboard. The energy sector (+3.0%) was another top performer this week despite its economically-sensitive status thanks to the OPEC+ announcement.
The Treasury market remains open Friday until 12:00 ET, so Thursday's settlement levels are not comparable for weekly yield changes.
· Nasdaq Composite: -1.1% for the week / +15.5% YTD
· S&P 500: -0.1% for the week / +6.9% YTD
· S&P Midcap 400: -2.6% for the week / +0.7% YTD
· Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.6% for the week / +1.0% YTD
· Russell 2000: -2.7% for the week / -0.4% YTD