March 20, 2023

Market Recap Week Ending March 17, 2023

Down, up, down, up, down—and up for the week.

That was the story last week as the stock market navigated regional bank volatility in the lead-up to this week’s key interest rate announcement.

Last Monday the S&P 500 (SPX) fell to its lowest low since January 3, but zigzagged its way to a five-day high on Thursday, and ended the week with a gain despite pulling back on Friday:

The headline: Stocks end choppy week in plus column.

The fine print: The bank story overshadowed last week’s relatively cool inflation numbers—the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased at a slower rate in February and was in line with expectations, while the Producer Price Index (PPI) slowed much more, and was well below estimates.

The number: -0.4%, the larger-than-expected decline in retail sales reported last Wednesday.

The move: Last Monday the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) jumped 24% to 30.81—its highest level since October.

The scorecard: The Nasdaq 100 (NDX) tech index enjoyed its biggest up week since November, while the small-cap Russell 2000 (RUT) joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) in negative territory for the year:

Sector returns: The strongest S&P 500 sectors last week were communication services (+7%), information technology (+5.6%), and utilities (+3.9%). The weakest sectors were energy (-7%), financials (-6%), and materials (-3.3%).

Stock movers: Provention Bio (PRVB) +260% to $24.1, Calliditas Therapeutics (CALT) +33% to $22.42, First Republic Bank (FRC) -62% to $31.21, Western Alliance Bancorp (WAL) -47% to $26.12—all on Monday.

Futures: Crude oil fell out of its multi-month trading range, hitting its lowest price since November 2021 and suffering its biggest weekly loss since April 2020. May WTI crude oil (CLK3) ended the week down more than $10 at $66.93/barrel. Flight-to-quality trading helped push April gold (GCJ3) to $1,973.50/ounce by Friday—up more than $100 for the week, and the market’s highest level since April 2022. Week’s biggest up moves: to come March Micro bitcoin (MBTH3) +34.8%, March Micro ether (ETHH3) +23.3%. Week’s biggest down moves: June Russian ruble (R6M3) -14.5%, April WTI crude oil (CLJ3) -13.6%.

Source (data): Power E*TRADE.

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