This is a new installment in an ongoing series where Marc Bautis and colleagues comment on hot topics in the financial industry. This week, Kayla Waller, Financial Planner, fills us in.
December 2022 Market Summary
Stocks were mostly negative in the final month of 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4.1%, the S&P 500 dipped 5.8%, and the NASDAQ sank 8.7%. Continuing rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, investors’ unease surrounding Q4 earnings, and uncertain outlooks for 2023 ended the two-month equities rally. Only emerging markets finished December up 0.1%. The Dow closed out 2022 down 6.9%, the S&P ended the year off 18.1%, and the NASDAQ finished 32.5% lower.
While all eleven S&P 500 sectors were higher in both October and November, they all finished lower in December. Energy and utilities were the lone gainers on the year, ending 2022 up 64.2% and 1.4%, respectively. Consumer discretionary’s December-worst 11.4% decline also made it the worst-performing sector in 2022, down 37.6%.
Inflation cooled for the sixth straight month to 6.45% YoY, and core inflation was slightly lower as well. US new single-family home sales rose for the second straight month, but existing home sales experienced its tenth straight monthly decline. The median national existing home price slipped another 2.1% as a result. Lastly, the average price of regular gas at the pump fell to its lowest level since July 2021.
MoM Treasury yields rose across the board with the exception of the 1-Year Treasury Bill, which declined by one basis point. The 6-Month Treasury Bill stood atop the US Treasury yield curve at 4.76%. The 10-Year was at the bottom, though its increase of 20 basis points to 3.88% was the largest MoM increase of all US treasuries.
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