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.