Azzad MarketWeek
Stocks ended last week mixed. A widely anticipated Federal Reserve decision on interest rates and a rotation into non-tech areas helped push the Dow Industrials higher, while the broader market and technology stocks lagged behind.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined 0.63 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.62 percent. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.05 percent.
Market Rotation After Fed Decision
Stocks stayed in a fairly tight trading range over the first half of the week. Tech remained a strong spot on Monday despite slight to modest declines in all three major averages.
By Tuesday’s close, all three major averages were slightly to modestly lower week-to-date as the Fed’s last interest-rate-setting meeting of the year approached.
Then, on Wednesday morning, stocks rose ahead of the Fed’s announcement that it was lowering rates by a quarter percentage point—a widely expected move. By the close, all three major averages ended in the green.
A market rotation theme dominated the rest of the week, as investors shifted into cyclical areas of the economy that are likely to benefit from an economic rebound. The Nasdaq ended Thursday’s session lower, while the S&P and Dow Industrials hit fresh record closes.
The rotation into value stocks continued on Friday, with some AI names coming under pressure. The financial, healthcare, and industrial sectors were among the groups that seemed to benefit from the rotation.
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