Weekly Updates

Market Update - May 13

Written by Justin J. Long CFP® | May 13, 2023 2:39:12 AM
On behalf of every one at Diazo, we would like to start off by wishing all the mothers, step-mothers, adoptive mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers a very wonderful Mother’s Day. Without you, literally none of us would be here. We appreciate all that you do, and hope you get to spend this weekend celebrating yourselves exactly how you wish and deserve.

And now onto the weekly recap:

 

 

The Nasdaq Composite closed the week with a slim gain while the S&P 500 closed with a slim loss. The 4,100 level was an important area of relative support for the S&P 500 this week. Index level price action was somewhat misleading, though, with more selling occurring under the surface. Mega cap stocks, benefitting from some flight to safety buying, held up the broader market.

The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) fell 1.1% this week while the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) rose 0.8%.  Alphabet (GOOG) offered a lot of support, rising 11.0% this week following its Developers Conference on Wednesday. 

Market participants were digesting the April Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices (SLOOS) on Monday. In brief, the SLOOS confirmed what the market had already been expecting following the regional banking crisis that began in mid-March. Lending standards have tightened and banks expect to tighten standards across all loan categories over the remainder of 2023. There was knee-jerk volatility in the immediate aftermath, yet the major indices closed little changed from levels seen before the release of the SLOOS. 

PacWest (PACW) was a losing standout from the bank stocks, falling another 21.0% this week after announcing that its deposits declined approximately 9.5% for the week ending May 5. PACW also cut its dividend to $0.01 per share from $0.25. The SPDR Regional Banking ETF (KRE) declined 5.2%.

Angst about the debt ceiling weighed over the broader market after Treasury Secretary Yellen warned last weekend of "economic chaos" if the debt ceiling is not raised. President Biden met with congressional leaders on Tuesday to discuss the debt ceiling, yet that did not quell the market's worries. Reports suggested that the meeting showed no signs that they had moved closer to a deal. President Biden was supposed to meet with congressional leaders again on Friday, but that meeting was postponed until early next week as staff members continue to negotiate.  

Meanwhile, market participants were reacting to the latest inflation readings in the form of the April Consumer and Producer Price Indices. Those reports largely went the market's way, which is to say that the continued month-over-month moderation in inflation should at least spur the Fed to entertain keeping its policy rate on hold when it meets again in June.

Economic releases culminated Friday with the release of the preliminary University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey for May, which featured a drop in sentiment and an increase in five-year ahead inflation expectations to 3.2% from 3.0%. That is the highest reading since 2011. Notably, the NY Fed's Survey of Consumer Expectations for April also reflected a slight increase in three-year and five-year ahead inflation expectations. 

Separately, Disney (DIS) was a drag on sentiment on Thursday after reporting fiscal Q2 results that featured a 2% year-over-year decline in Disney+ paid subscribers.

Growth concerns manifested themselves in S&P 500 sector performance. Energy (-2.2%), materials (-2.0%), and industrials (-1.2%) showing some of the steepest declines. Unsurprisingly, the financials sector was another top laggard, down 1.4%.

The communication services (+4.3%) and consumer discretionary (+0.6%) sectors were the lone outperformers to log a gain, boosted by their respective mega cap components. 

The 2-yr Treasury note yield rose seven basis points to 3.98% this week and the 10-yr note yield rose one basis point to 3.46%. The U.S. Dollar Index rose 1.4% to 102.71.

 
 

 

The data provided is for informational purposes only and is not an endorsement of any security, mutual fund, sector, or index. The information contained here is not guaranteed as to accuracy or completeness. All economic and performance information is historical and does not guarantee future results.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted index comprising 30 widely traded blue chip U.S. common stocks. The NASDAQ Composite Index is a market-value-weighted index of all common stocks listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The S&P 500 Index tracks the performance of 500 of the largest publicly traded companies in the United States. The MSCI Europe, Australasia, and Far East (EAFE) Index tracks the performance of publicly traded large- and mid-cap stocks of companies in those regions. The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) shows the market’s expectation of 30-day volatility and is constructed using the implied volatilities of a wide range of S&P 500 Index options. Weekly and year-to-date figures for the VIX show percentage changes, not investment returns. The Russell 2000 Index tracks the performance of approximately 2,000 publicly traded small-cap companies in the United States. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.

The Treasury yield curve is derived from available U.S. Treasury securities trading in the market and is provided directly by the U.S. Federal Reserve. The spread measures the difference in yield between two government securities. A normal (positive) yield curve occurs when longer-term rates are higher than shorter-term rates. The opposite holds true for an inverted yield curve. Year-to-date changes in U.S. Treasury bond yields are shown in basis points (bps). One hundred basis points equals one percent.

Oil prices are represented by West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil.

The G20 countries comprise a mix of the world’s largest advanced and emerging economies, representing about two-thirds of the world’s population, 85% of global gross domestic product, and over 75% of global trade.