The S&P 500 index rose 4.7% last week as investors digested the latest round of third quarter earnings reports, many of which came in better than expected.
The weekly gain pushed the S&P 500 back into the black for the month to date; it is now up 4.7% for October so far with just six sessions remaining. However, the index is still solidly in the red for the year to date with a drop of 21% for 2022 thus far.
Last week’s advance came as more quarterly earnings rolled in above analysts’ mean estimates. While companies are noting challenges such as inflation and supply chain issues, many are showing that they have still managed to surpass Street consensus estimates.
That helped prompt a relief rally after stocks had been sliding in the weeks heading into earnings on worries about the impact of macroeconomic issues including inflation.
All of the S&P 500’s 11 sectors rose last week, led by a 8.1% jump in energy, a 6.5% climb in technology and a 6.1% rise in materials. Other strong gainers included consumer discretionary, up 5.6%, and communication services, up 5%. The smallest advance was logged by utilities, which edged up 1.9%.
Next week’s earnings calendar features companies such as 3M (MMM), United Parcel Service (UPS), General Motors (GM), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Visa (V), Meta Platforms (META), Boeing (BA), Ford Motor (F), Apple (AAPL), Amazon.com (AMZN), Merck (MRK), McDonald’s (MCD), Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX).
Economic data will include readings earlier in the week on the manufacturing and services sectors for October as well as the October consumer confidence index. However, more attention will likely be placed on the first estimate of Q3 gross domestic product on Thursday and September inflation data due Friday.
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