Weekly Market Commentary | Fed Meeting | September 19th, 2022

ROBARE & JONES ON THE MARKETS

           The S&P 500 fell 4.8% this week, wiping out last week's 3.6% climb, as investors were spooked by a report of higher-than-expected consumer price inflation in August as well as a profit warning by package delivery company FedEx (FDX).

This marks the index's fourth weekly drop over the last five weeks. It is now down 2.1% for the month to date and down 19% for the year to date.

The week included the largest one-day drop in the S&P 500 index since June 2020, coming Tuesday after data from the Labor Department showed CPI was still higher than anticipated. This has boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve would push forward with a more aggressive tightening cycle.

Adding to investors' worries later in the week, FedEx (FDX) preliminarily reported results for its fiscal Q1 ended Aug. 31 below analysts' expectations and withdrew its fiscal 2023 earnings guidance. The company also disclosed cost-cutting measures after preliminary data showed a decline in global volume accelerated in the final weeks of the quarter.

All of the S&P 500's sectors fell this week, with materials leading the way lower with a 6.7% drop. Other top decliners included real estate, down 6.5%, while communication services and industrials fell by 6.4% each and technology shed 6.1%.

This week, all eyes will be on a meeting of the Federal Reserve's policy-setting body, the Federal Open Market Committee. Housing data will also be in focus with August existing home sales on Tuesday. On Friday, S&P Global will conclude the week with a release of its September readings on US manufacturing and services.

Let's take a look at the markets from this past week!

 What are your thoughts about the current market conditions? Let us know!



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