The S&P 500 index rose 0.8% last week amid a strong start to Q1 bank earnings and milder-than-expected US consumer and producer price data.
The index is now up 0.7% for the month of April and up 7.8% for the year to date.
Last week’s increase came as Q1 earnings from big banks including JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C) and Wells Fargo (WFC) surpassed analysts’ mean estimates on Friday.
A day earlier, data showed the US producer price index fell 0.5% last month, marking an unexpected drop as the consensus via Econoday was for the index to remain unchanged in March following a flat reading for February. The PPI advanced 2.7% annually, the smallest gain since January 2021.
On Wednesday, a separate report showed the US seasonally adjusted consumer price index, another key measure of inflation, rose by 0.1% in March; this was smaller than the 0.2% increase that was expected and smaller than February’s 0.4% gain. In addition, the year-over-year rate for overall CPI slowed to 5% from 6% in the previous month, marking the smallest gain since May 2021.
Related: Inflation Rose Just 0.1% in March and 5% From a Year Prior
The week’s advance was led by a 2.9% climb in materials, a 2.5% rise in energy and a 2.1% increase in industrials. Other gainers included consumer discretionary, health care and communication services.
Real estate led to the downside with a 1.5% drop. Technology and consumer staples also edged lower.
This week’s earnings calendar features companies such as Charles Schwab (SCHW), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Bank of America (BAC), Netflix (NFLX), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), United Airlines (UAL), Tesla (TSLA), and more.
Economic data will feature several housing reports, including the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market index for April on Monday, March housing starts on Tuesday, and March existing home sales on Thursday.
Standard & Poor will close out the week with April readings on both the services and manufacturing sectors for the month.
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