Market Commentary: Equity markets established new highs again this past week before pulling back the past two days. Everyone likes to place the blame somewhere whenever the market declines, and this time many investors are pointing at Bernanke. The Fed Chairman stated that he remains concerned about a pickup in inflation but went on to say that he did not see a need to raise interest rates. Those words also put a damper on expectations for a rate cut anytime soon, causing both stocks and bonds to decline. The yield on the 10-year Treasury hit 4.995% today, just shy of 5%, a level not seen for ten months.
Sectors: The Utilities sector has now fallen to the bottom of our rankings. This quick fall is indeed non-characteristic action for this sector, which is typically marked by low relative volatility and slow changes in direction. Its recent action has been out-of-sync with the market and today undercut its low of last week. Energy still has a lock on the top spot with Telecommunications and Materials not too far behind.
Styles: Mid Cap Growth has held the top position in our style rankings for the past three weeks and for five of the past six weeks. Its advantage has been very slight but is now starting to widen. Mega Cap stocks continue to weaken on a relative basis and have joined Micro Caps at the bottom of our rankings.
International: A strong upside move in global equity markets provided a momentum boost to all of our global categories. Latin America remains the strongest area and gained +4.6% for the week with significant contributions from both Mexico and Brazil. Even Japan, the global laggard, had an above average week and brought its momentum back into positive territory.
Sectors: The Utilities sector has now fallen to the bottom of our rankings. This quick fall is indeed non-characteristic action for this sector, which is typically marked by low relative volatility and slow changes in direction. Its recent action has been out-of-sync with the market and today undercut its low of last week. Energy still has a lock on the top spot with Telecommunications and Materials not too far behind.
Styles: Mid Cap Growth has held the top position in our style rankings for the past three weeks and for five of the past six weeks. Its advantage has been very slight but is now starting to widen. Mega Cap stocks continue to weaken on a relative basis and have joined Micro Caps at the bottom of our rankings.
International: A strong upside move in global equity markets provided a momentum boost to all of our global categories. Latin America remains the strongest area and gained +4.6% for the week with significant contributions from both Mexico and Brazil. Even Japan, the global laggard, had an above average week and brought its momentum back into positive territory.
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