- U.S. equities surged late last week reflecting investors’ celebration of easing inflation data and falling bond yields. The S&P 500 Index rose nearly 6% while the Nasdaq rose more than 8%.
- Growth shares vastly outperformed value stocks as investors rapidly priced in lower discount rates. An index of nonprofitable tech stocks rose over 15% on Thursday alone. Large caps bested small cap shares.
- Within the S&P 500 index, many of the most beaten-down sectors year-to-date were the top weekly performers. This included many of the faster-growing portions of the market such as IT and communication services. The real estate sector also performed well due to lower interest rates.
- More defensive portions of the market were among the poorest performers, although they were still positive. This included utilities and healthcare.
- Year-to-date, value shares are still ahead of growth stocks by a wide margin. Small cap and large cap leadership are close to mixed across different investment styles, as small caps have made up some lost ground recently
