This raised concerns about a faster Fed tightening pace this year and next. Last trading in the 4520s saw the S&P 500 trade 0.1% lower than the previous day. It had fluctuated between lows of just over 4500 and highs close to 4550. The index is expected to finish the week with modest losses, around 0.4% and 2.4% respectively, compared to Tuesday’s highs.
The long-awaited Nasdaq 100 index, which is heavily tech/growth stock, was modestly underperformer. It lost 0.5% to fall back into the 14,700s. This leaves the index more than 3.0% below its previous weekly highs of the 15,200s. The index closed in the green for the week. On Friday, tech/growth stocks fell due to a sharp rise of US yields, especially at the short end, following strong US data. This raises the “opportunity costs” of owning stock, whose current earnings are relatively low relative to their valuation.
Stocks with current earnings that are higher than current valuations or value/cyclical stocks, which make up a greater portion of the Dow’s weighting, performed better Friday. The Dow traded flat at the 34,600s last week, which is only 2.0% less than its previous weekly highs of the 35,300s. The S&P 500 CBOE Volatility Index (or VIX), which Wall Street refers to as Wall Street’s fear gauge, fell by half a point to close to 20.00, its long-term average. This is a sign of calmer waters in the current equity markets, as it stands at 1.50 below its recent lows.
