To The Moon

The major U.S. indexes gave back some of the gains they recorded in March, as stocks pulled back after a strong start to the week.

On a total-return basis, the $S&P 500(.SPX)$ fell about 1.2%, the $DJIA(.DJI)$ slipped 0.2%, and the $NASDAQ(.IXIC)$ dropped 3.8%.

The NASDAQ extended its run of year-to-date underperformance relative to the other major U.S. indexes, as it fell by nearly 4% for the week. With its heavy weighting in technology stocks, the NASDAQ has recently come under pressure in an environment of rising interest rates.

Weekly Index Returns From Last Week:

Other Markets:

Oil Pullback: U.S. crude oil prices fell for the second week in a row, slipping below the $100-per-barrel level on Tuesday and ending the week around $98. Despite the recent pullback, the price remained about 30% above its level at the end of 2021.

Macro Data Perspective:

Fed Outlook: Last Wednesday’s release of minutes from the Fed’s mid-March meeting showed that policymakers discussed the possibility of raising the Fed’s benchmark interest rate by a half-percentage point at a meeting.

Earnings Slowdown: As of Friday, analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting companies in the S&P 500 to post earnings increases averaging 4.5% compared with the same period a year earlier. If the growth rate ends up close to that figure, it would mark the first time in two years that quarterly earnings growth fell short of 10%.

Fleeting Inversion:The yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond rose on Friday for the sixth consecutive trading session, climbing to 2.71%—the highest in three years.

Tight labor market: With the U.S. unemployment rate at just 3.6%, initial applications for unemployment benefits are also dropping to unusually low levels.

Inflation checkup: A Consumer Price Index report scheduled to be released on Tuesday will show whether the U.S. economy got any relief in March from surging inflation. A month earlier, the government reported that inflation accelerated in February at a 7.9% annual rate—the highest in four decades—eclipsing the previous month’s 7.5% figure.

S&P 500 11 Sectors Performances:

Source From finviz.com

Last Week, The Healthcare, Consumer Defensive, and Energy sectors are the top three gainers with 2.64%, 2.01%, and 1.98% increases respectively. Technology, Consumer Cyclical, Communication Services became the biggest loser of industries last week.

Inside the Healthcare sector, $Lyra Therapeutics(LYRA)$ , $Avenue Therapeutics Inc.(ATXI)$ ,$Biofrontera Inc(BFRI)$ , $Reviva Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc.(RVPH)$ ,$Purple Innovation Inc.(PRPL)$ are winners which belong to the Pharmacy industry. 

The Top 10 stocks of S&P 500 By 5-D % change are: $Twitter(TWTR)$ (+17.6%), $Mosaic(MOS)$ (+12.11%), $AutoZone(AZO)$ (+10.94%), $Target(TGT)$ (+10.83%), $O'Reilly(ORLY)$ (+10.64%), $Advance Auto Parts(AAP)$ (+8.8%), $Dollar General(DG)$ (+8.62%), $HP Inc(HPQ)$ (+8.51%), $CF Industries Holdings Inc(CF)$ (+8.44%),  $Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc.(LW)$(+8.38%）

The week ahead: April 11-15