Stocks made a positive move to start off the month with the S&P 500 returning over 3.5% last week, the first positive move since mid-April. Despite stocks moving higher, job losses in April totaled 20.5 million to bring the unemployment rate back to a level not touched since the Great Depression. Investors risk appetites look to be back as technology companies in the NASDAQ Composite index boosted returns to nearly 6% for the week. Fortinet Inc, IPG Photonics, and PayPal Inc were the top tech performers. Looking at returns through the size lens, small cap stocks outperformed mid cap which outperformed large caps. The Russell 2000 logged a 5.52% return while the S&P MidCap 400 index posted 5.42% return. After a depressing first quarter, Energy stocks have rebounded off their March lows and led all sectors last week after the price of oil catapulted almost $5. Phillips 66 was the top energy stock in the S&P 500 after stellar earnings and a positive outlook were reported last Friday. The positive news combined with the move in oil gave some visibility to the energy sector that investors have been looking for during the recent volatility. With only 21 companies in the S&P 500 set to report next week, earnings season will come to a close shortly after as almost 90% of the companies in the index have released their quarterly numbers. On the economic front, CPI and PPI will both be released next week as investors digest the impact of the slowdown on both the economy and the stock market.
Source: First Trust
Chart reflects price changes, not total return. Because it does not include dividends or splits, it should not be used to benchmark performance of specific investments
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