John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended December 1

Bond price rally

Prices of U.S. government bonds surged, sending yields lower, as investors appeared to focus on the prospect of potential interest-rate cuts in coming months rather than any further rate hikes. The yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond fell on Friday to around 4.22%—the lowest in more than three months and down sharply from a recent peak of 4.99% on October 18.

Earnings scorecard

Companies in the S&P 500 posted an average earnings gain of 4.7% over the same quarter a year earlier, according to FactSet data from the recently concluded earnings season. That result marked the first year-over-year earnings increase since 2022’s third quarter. Communication services was the strongest sector  with earnings growth of 42.0%.

Spending slowdown

The government reported on Thursday that spending by U.S. consumers rose in October at an annual rate of 0.2%, the slowest pace in five months. The latest monthly result also marks a sharp slowdown from September’s 0.7% figure.

Jobs ahead

A monthly labor market report due out on Friday will show whether a recent slowdown in U.S. jobs growth extended into November. In October, the economy generated 150,000 new jobs—about half as many as in September and down from an average of 258,000 over the last 12 months. October’s unemployment rate edged upward to 3.9%.

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