Month: February 2020

The Nasdaq led the markets higher with a gain of 2.19 percent. The S&P 500 Index increased 1.56 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 1.01 percent.

Amazon (AMZN) helped power the consumer discretionary sector, gaining 2.71 percent. SPDR Consumer Discretionary (XLY) climbed 2.63 percent. SPDR Utilities (XLU) returned 2.61 percent as falling interest rates lifted the sector. The technology sector extended its winning streak on solid earnings from chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA). SPDR Technology (XLK) added 2.27 percent.

Investors bought higher-quality stocks this week. iShares Edge MSCI Minimum Volatility USA (USMV) outperformed the S&P 500 with an advance of 1.86 percent. Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (VIG) rose 1.59 percent.

The National Federation of Independent Business’ small-business confidence index rose to 104.3 in January. Business owners’ top worry is still finding enough qualified workers, while they grew more confident that sales would increase over the year.

Retail sales increased 0.3 percent in January. Sales ex-autos were also up 0.3 percent. The University of Michigan’s advance consumer sentiment survey for February increased to 100.9.

iShares MSCI Emerging Markets (EEM) rallied 1.94 percent on the week. iShares China Large-Cap (FXI) gained 2.47 percent as Chinese shares also rallied. iShares MSCI EAFE (EFA) saw a much smaller increase of 0.30 as the falling euro weighed on returns. The euro tumbled more than 1 percent. The U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.43 percent.

West Texas Intermediate climbed to $52 per barrel after opening the week at $49. SPDR Energy (XLE) rebounded 1.06 percent.

iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond (HYG) rallied 0.50 percent. Invesco Senior Loan (BKLN) rose 0.29 percent, while Fidelity Corporate Bond (FCOR) 0.17 percent.

Alibaba (BABA), Digital Realty Trust (DLR), Exact Sciences (EXAS), Hasbro (HAS), Chegg (CHGG), Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT) and XPO Logistics (XPO) were among the companies beating earnings over the past few days.

The Nasdaq rallied 1.13 percent on Monday due to strong earnings news and Friday’s strong jobs number. The S&P 500 Index increased 0.73 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.60 percent.

Technology extended its winning streak. SPDR Technology (XLK) climbed 1.35 percent. SPDR Consumer Discretionary (XLY) added 1.13 percent as top component Amazon (AMZN) gained 2.63 percent and a new all-time high. SPDR Communication Services (XLC) rose 0.59 percent.

Economic data will be light this week. On Tuesday, the National Federation of Independent Business will release its small-business confidence index for December. The Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) for December will also be released tomorrow.

January consumer inflation will be out on Thursday. Economists forecast an increase of 0.2 percent, same as December.

January retail sales will be released Friday. Analysts expect both the total sales and ex-autos number to have increased 0.3 percent for the month.

The U.S. Dollar Index extended its streak as well on Monday, rising 0.17 percent. iShares MSCI Emerging Markets (EEM) gained 0.62 percent and iShares MSCI EAFE (EFA) added 0.20 percent.

Crude oil fell below $50 per barrel on Monday, losing 1.27 percent. SPDR Energy (XLE) was one of the few sector funds down on the day. It fell 0.48 percent.

Bonds rallied across the board as strong economic data lowered credit risk. iShares Fidelity Corporate Bond (FCOR) gained 0.15 percent, iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond (HYG) 0.14 percent and Invesco Senior Loan (BKLN) 0.11 percent.

Lyft (LYFT), Under Armour (UA), Hasbro (HAS) and Akamai (AKAM), Hilton Worldwide (HLT), Dominion Energy (DE), Western Union (WU) and Goodyear Tire & Rubber (GT) will all report earnings on Tuesday.

Cisco (CSCO), Shopify (SHOP), CVS Health (CVS), Applied Materials (AMAT), CME Group (CME), MGM Resorts (MGM), Moody’s (MCO) and Welltower (WELL) deliver results on Wednesday.

Thursday brings earnings from Alibaba (BABA), Nvidia (NVDA), Roku (ROKU), Duke Energy (DUK), Zoetis (ZTS) and Expedia (EXPE).

The week closes out with Enbridge (ENB), Canopy Growth (CGC), PPL Corp (PPL), AstraZeneca (AZN), Yandex (YNDX) and Newell Brands (NWL).

The Nasdaq gained 4.06 percent this week as strong economic data and corporate earnings lifted the market. The S&P 500 Index rose 3.19 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 3.03 percent.

SPDR Technology (XLK) advanced 4.60 percent thanks to a bounce in semiconductor shares and large-cap components. VanEck Semiconductor (SMH) rallied 4.35 percent. Microsoft (MSFT) increased 8.10 percent. SPDR Communication Services (XLC) was also a solid performer following positive earnings from Disney (DIS). XLC climbed 3.60 percent. Facebook (FB) rose 5.18 percent.

SPDR Healthcare (XLV) returned 3.92 percent. The biotechnology sector powered the move. SPDR S&P Biotech (XBI) jumped 6.97 percent.

Economic data was solid with positive manufacturing PMIs in the U.S., Europe and China. Motor vehicle sales in January came in stronger than expected at an annualized pace of 16.8 million vehicles. December factory orders grew 1.8 percent versus the 1.5 percent forecast.

Service PMIs also came in stronger than expected. December’s ISM services PMI was 54.9 and economists predicted 55.0 for January. The final figure was 55.5 percent.

The U.S. economy created far more jobs than forecasted in January. Economists were looking for 165,000 jobs, but 225,000 net new jobs were created. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.6 percent as discouraged workers returned to the workforce. Wage growth was 0.2 percent, double December’s figure.

Earnings were particularly strong. AbbVie (ABBV) rallied 13.91 percent on the week, Cardinal Health (CAH) 13.75 percent, Cigna (CI) 8.60 percent, New York Times (NYT) 16.90 percent, Nuance Communications (NUAN) 15.49 percent, iRobot (IRBT) 16.31 percent, Olin Corp (OLN) 9.28 percent, Markel Corp (MKL) 11.14 percent, Clorox (CLX) 5.67 percent and Disney (DIS) 1.96 percent.