Winthrop Partners Economic and Financial Update 2-16-2021

The Markets (as of market close February 12, 2021)
Increasing prospects that a massive fiscal stimulus bill is around the corner helped drive stocks to record highs last Monday. With fourth-quarter corporate earnings season at the halfway mark, 83% of the reporting companies have surpassed most estimates, a clear sign that the economy is slowly turning the corner toward recovery. The S&P 500 jumped 0.7% to a record high, while the small caps of the Russell 2000 climbed 2.5%. The Global Dow advanced 1.1%, the Nasdaq gained 1.0%, and the Dow added 0.8%. Energy continued to soar, gaining 4.2%, followed by financials and information technology as the only other sectors increasing by at least 1.0%. Crude oil prices continued to advance, surging ahead by 2.1%, driven higher by growing economic optimism, the likelihood of additional stimulus, and President Biden’s reluctance to relax sanctions on Iran. Treasury yields fell as bond prices climbed. The dollar was mixed against a basket of currencies.
Stocks were mixed last Tuesday with the large caps of the Dow and the S&P 500 slipping for the first time in six sessions, while the Russell 2000, the Global Dow, and the Nasdaq posted gains. The market sectors were split with communication services, financials, health care, industrials, utilities, and real estate advancing, while consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, information technology, and materials fell. Crude oil prices are nearing $60 per barrel after rising again last Tuesday. Treasury yields and the dollar declined.
For the second consecutive day, stocks were mixed last Wednesday. The Dow gained 0.2% and the Global Dow jumped 0.4%. The S&P 500 was flat, while the Russell 2000 (-0.7%) and the Nasdaq (-0.3%) fell. Among the sectors, energy, communication services, real estate, utilities, and health care advanced. The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined, the dollar was mixed, and crude oil prices inched up 0.1%.
Last Thursday saw equities perform better. Information technology drove the Nasdaq up 0.4%, followed by the S&P 500 (0.2%) and the Russell 2000 (0.1%). The Global Dow dipped 0.1% and the Dow was flat. Treasury yields climbed over 2.0% and the dollar was mixed. Crude oil prices fell for the first time in quite a while, falling 1.2%. Most of the sectors lost value, led by energy, which dropped 1.6%.
Stocks closed the week on a high note last Friday. Each of the benchmark indexes gained value, led by the Nasdaq and the S&P 500, which each climbed 0.5%. The Global Dow advanced 0.4% on the day, followed by the Russell 2000 (0.2%) and the Dow (0.1%). Among the market sectors, only real estate and utilities fell. Energy and materials each advanced over 1.0% to lead the remaining sectors. Treasury yields jumped more than 3.6%, crude oil prices regained momentum, while the dollar was flat.

Overall, last week saw each of the benchmark indexes listed here advance by at least 1.0%. The Russell 2000 led the way, followed by the Global Dow, the Nasdaq, the S&P 500, and the Dow. Energy led the market sectors after climbing 4.4%, followed by information technology (2.3%) and financials (2.0%). Utilities (-1.8%), communication services (-1.4%), and consumer discretionary (-1.2%) fared poorly for the week. The Russell 2000 and the Nasdaq remained ahead of the remaining benchmarks year to date. Crude oil climbed 4.6% for the week and has increased 22.9% in 2021. The national average retail price for regular gasoline was $2.461 per gallon on February 8, $0.052 per gallon over the prior week’s price and $0.042 higher than a year ago. Crude oil refinery inputs averaged 14.8 million barrels per day during the week ended February 5, which was 152,000 barrels per day more than the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 83.0% of their operable capacity last week. Click here for entire article: Winthrop Partner Market Update 2-16-2021