John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended February 28

Yields drop

Yields of U.S. government bonds fell to their lowest levels in nearly three months amid concerns over the latest economic data. The yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury note closed on Friday around 4.19%, down from 4.42% at the end of the previous week and a recent peak of 4.80% in mid-January.

Earnings scorecard

Companies in the S&P 500 posted an average earnings gain of 17.8% over the same quarter a year earlier, according to FactSet data from the recently concluded fourth-quarter earnings season. That result marked the strongest growth since the fourth quarter of 2021 and was up sharply from the 11.8% growth rate that analysts had expected heading into earnings season. Financials posted a 56.0% earnings gain, the highest among all 11 sectors.

February’s fall

The stock market’s mostly positive momentum in January and early February reversed course in the last two weeks of the year’s shortest month. The NASDAQ took the biggest hit among the major U.S. indexes, retreating around 4.0% in February, while the S&P 500 and the Dow fell 1.4% and 1.6%, respectively.

Jobs ahead

The next monthly labor market report due out on Friday will show whether January’s slowdown in jobs growth extended into February. In January, the economy generated 143,000 new jobs, down from 307,000 in December and 261,000 in November. However, January’s report showed the unemployment rate slipped from 4.1% to 4.0%.

Source: https://www.jhinvestments.com/weekly-market-recap#market-moving-news