SPX: the best week in 2024

Posted inflation data for the US, which were below market expectations, increased optimism among market participants that the Fed will make its first move on the rate cuts in September this year. This was the major fuel for the significant increase in the value of the S&P 500 index during the week, which had its best performance week during 2024. The index started the week at the level of 5.341 and reached the highest level on Friday's trading session of 5.554. The index is currently only 2% lower from it's all time highest level, reached in July this year. Aside from inflation, the Retail Sales in July were 1% higher on a monthly basis, which was above market estimate of 0.3%. This represents an additional sign that the US economy is not at all on the glimpse of the recession, but quite opposite, based on macro data, it stands in a relatively solid shape.

The biggest weekly winners are again tech stocks. Market favorite Nvidia managed to gain an incredible 18% during the week. Apple and Microsoft were traded higher by some 3% and 4% on a weekly level. Another aspect which should be also considered is that the majority of companies on Wall Street posted quarterly results. The analysts are noting that around 78% of the listed companies posted results which were higher from the market estimate, which additionally impacted positive market expectations, and pushed the index to the higher grounds.