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It was another consequential week for market participants as some big news was revealed on Wednesday and Friday. The January jobs report and inflation numbers caused a lot of chatter among economists as to what they might mean for monetary policy and the economy.

The week kicked off with delayed retail sales data released on Tuesday morning. During the month of December, core retail sales were flat compared to an expected increase of 0.3 percent. Overall retail sales were also flat compared to an expected increase of 0.4 percent.

On Wednesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revealed that the economy grew by 130,000 jobs in January. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.3 percent while average hourly earnings grew by 0.4 percent. Analysts believed that the economy would add just 66,000 jobs in January.

On Thursday, unemployment claims data for the last seven days was made public. Over the past week, there were 227,000 requests for benefits compared to an expected 222,000. Last week, there were 232,000 claims made.

Finally, Friday saw the release of the CPI report for January. During that month, overall CPI came in at 0.2 percent while core CPI came in at 0.3 percent. This translates to an inflation rate of 2.4 percent on an annualized basis, the lowest level in about five years. The drop was attributed to lower gas prices as well as a slowdown in apartment rental price increases.

It is also believed that changes or delays to proposed tariffs have alleviated fears of sustained inflation. The consensus is that the Fed will either stand pat or continue to cut rates as it can likely do so without kickstarting an inflationary cycle.

The S&P 500 was down 1.1 percent this week to close at 6,836 at the close of trading Friday. The index made its weekly high on Wednesday morning when it peaked at 6,991 before reversing and nosediving in the second half of the week. On Friday afternoon, it hit its weekly low of 6,821 before reversing to close out the day.

The Dow surpassed 50,000 to begin the week. However, it fell 493 points over the past five trading days to finish Friday at 49,500. This was a loss of 0.97 percent for the index that made its weekly high of 50,430 on Tuesday. It made a low of 49,326 on Friday morning.

Finally, the Nasdaq lost 190 points this week to close Friday’s session at 24,732. This was a drop of 0.76 percent for the index that followed the lead of the other two major markets over the past five days. On Wednesday morning, the Nasdaq made a weekly high of 25,366 and made its weekly low of 24,677 on Friday morning.

In international news, China announced on Tuesday that its inflation rate was up 0.2 percent on an annualized basis in January. On Thursday, Great Britain announced that its gross domestic product (GDP) was up 0.1 percent in January. Finally, on Friday morning, Switzerland announced that inflation dropped by 0.1 percent in January.

The upcoming week will likely be another interesting one even if it gets off to a slow start.
. FOMC meeting minutes will be released on Wednesday while the Core PCE Price Index for January will be released on Friday. The Flash Manufacturing PMI and Flash Services PMI will also be released at the end of the week.

This was another consequential week for market participants as the prices of gold, silver and Bitcoin whipsawed dramatically. The tech sector was hit hard by losses, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new record high. Economic data featured a mixed bag of news that offered little market clarity.

On Monday, some good news came in for the market with the release of the ISM Manufacturing PMI. In January, the index was at 52.6, which was higher than the projected 48.5 and higher than last month’s reading of 47.9. On Wednesday, the ISM Services PMI was released and came in at 53.8. This was higher than the expected 53.5 and was also only slightly lower than last month’s reading of 54.4.
However, the ADP nonfarm payroll report revealed that the economy added just 22,000 jobs in December. It was believed prior to the release that the economy had added 46,000 jobs for the month. This figure was also lower than the 37,000 positions created in December. The BLS version of the nonfarm payroll report was supposed to be made public on Friday, but it is now scheduled for next Wednesday.

Thursday saw the release of the JOLTS job reports figure for January as well as the unemployment claims figures for the past seven days. In January, there were 6.54 million openings in the United States, compared to an expected 7.25 million. This was slightly lower than the 6.93 million positions available in December.

The data reflects a growing trend among workers and employers to maintain the status quo. Employees don’t want to leave their current jobs because they fear that they won’t find better opportunities. Meanwhile, employers don’t want the added costs and uncertainty associated with laying off employees. Furthermore, they are generally focused on how to improve productivity as opposed to increasing their head counts.

As far as unemployment claims are concerned, there were 231,000 requests for benefits. This was up from 209,000 a week ago and well above the projected 212,000 claims prior to the release.

On Friday, the University of Michigan released its consumer sentiment and inflation expectations reports. Consumer sentiment came in at 57.3, which was higher than the projected 55. Respondents also said that inflation was going to be at 3.5 percent in 12 months.

The S&P 500 was relatively flat again this week gaining almost 13 points to close at 6,932. For the week, the market made a high of 6,989 on Tuesday before falling to a low of 6,782 on Thursday. The index then reversed on Friday to settle in the middle of the weekly range.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was more volatile this week closing up 2.74 percent to finish at 50,115. On Friday, the index climbed above the 50,000 level for the first time in history. For the week, the index forced traders to endure choppy trading until breaking out on Friday. The low of the week was 48,483 which occurred on Thursday while it closed near the weekly high.

Finally, the Nasdaq was the big loser this week, dropping 1.78 percent to close at 25,075. This represented a drop of over 400 points led by big losses for names such as Amazon, Coinbase and Robin Hood. As with the S&P 500, the Nasdaq opened near its high of 25,760 and made a low of 24,460 on Thursday.

In international news, Australia raised the country’s key interest rate by 25 basis points to 3.85 percent. Great Britain kept the nation’s interest rate at 3.75 percent on Thursday morning while the Eurozone kept its base interest rate at 2.15 percent.

Next week will certainly be an interesting one as the BLS nonfarm payroll report is scheduled to be released. Retail sales numbers as well as inflation data come out on Tuesday and Friday. Unemployment claims for the past week will come out on Thursday.