US equities were mixed last week. Large cap cyclicals rose, including energy, financials, materials, and industrials, pushing the Dow to a record high during Wednesday’s session. However, sectors like technology, communications, and healthcare finished lower, resulting in small losses for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Small and midcap US stocks were also down slightly, while international stock indices managed to eke out small gains.
Last week’s most prominent market action was in rates, as Treasury yields moved higher on the back of PPI inflation and retail sales figures that blew past consensus estimates. The 10-year finished the week at 1.34% (+13bp w/w), while the 30-year closed at 2.13% (+12bp w/w). Credit spreads compressed slightly, particularly in high yield, but not enough to prevent price declines across most spread-oriented sectors of the bond market.
Oil finally took a pause, finishing slightly lower on Friday after trading above $60/barrel (WTI) for most of the week. Market participants are anticipating a rise in OPEC+ production, and a short-term drop in demand as refineries take time to recover from freezing weather across much of the southern US.
In other economic news, weekly jobless claims remained range-bound, while residential building permits rose to a fresh 15-year high of 1.88 million (SAAR), a positive sign for housing and the broader economy in 2021. See the Chart of the Week for a time series.
