Weekly Market Insights: Markets Take a Breather After Mixed Week

Stocks were down for the week as investors appeared to take some profits and traders parsed Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s Congressional testimony.

Markets Wobble 

Stocks had a rough start to the week, with the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq each off more than one percent on Tuesday alone. Mega-cap tech stocks were under pressure as investors appeared to take some profits.

Markets clawed back much of their losses on Wednesday and Thursday, with the Fed Chair’s upbeat comments to the Senate Banking Committee boosting stocks. Chair Powell said that once the Fed was confident inflation was tracking “sustainably at 2%,” the Fed would consider cutting short-term interest rates. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rallied, with the S&P hitting a record close.^1,2,3

Friday’s employment news threw some uncertainty into the mix. The economy added 275,000 jobs in February—exceeding the 198,000 expected—but wage growth slowed, and jobless claims edged up. Some investors saw that as a negative, while others viewed it as a “Goldilocks” moment—an economy that’s not too hot or cold. Stocks initially rallied on the news, but profit-takers appeared to arrive as the day progressed.^4,5

Footnotes and Sources

1. ^{The Wall Street Journal, March 8, 2024}
2. ^{MarketWatch, March 6, 2024}
3. ^{CNBC, March 7, 2024}
4. ^{CNBC, March 8, 2024}
5. ^{The Wall Street Journal, March 8, 2024}