- Domestic stocks were mostly higher during a historic week marked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which initially wreaked havoc on global markets. Astonishingly, U.S. stocks made a dramatic upwards swing on Thursday that continued into Friday. To show how high volatility levels are, Tesla added about $100 billion in market capitalization on Thursday, but its stock price still fell by 5.5% throughout the week.
- Although the Russian invasion across the border was widely anticipated for weeks, President Vladimir Putin’s decision to implement a large-scale takeover of all regions across Ukraine was unexpected. After the initial shock from these events subsided, U.S. stocks rebounded based on thoughts the Federal Reserve may shift their monetary policy tightening plans and reevaluate interest rate increases.
- Within the S&P 500 Index, consumer discretionary stocks lagged despite a positive return from industry-leading Amazon. The communication services and health care sectors were largely positive.
- Small-cap stocks outpaced large-caps and growth modestly led value as all areas had positive returns for the week but remain negative for the year.
