REIT - A Crude Problem
2024-04-07 09:00:00 ET
Summary
- U.S. equity markets declined this week while benchmark interest rates jumped to the highest level since November after stronger-than-expected employment data showed robust hiring trends in early 2024.
- Stagflation has crept back into the economic discussion over the past several weeks amid a resurgence in oil prices alongside economic data showing stubbornly lukewarm inflationary trends.
- Following two straight weeks of gains which had lifted the benchmark to record-highs, the S&P 500 declined by 0.9% this week. Real estate equities were among the laggards this week.
- The critical BLS Nonfarm Payrolls report showed that the U.S. economy added 303k jobs in March - above consensus estimates of around 200k - and breaking with the trends of recent quarters in which there were weaker trends beneath the surface, the report was relatively solid throughout.
- A reacceleration in inflation has become a more distinct threat as WTI Crude Oil prices breached $86 per barrel this week for the first time since last October, as hopes dimmed for any near-term resolution in the dueling geopolitical quagmires in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Real Estate Weekly Outlook
U.S. equity markets declined this week while benchmark interest rates jumped to the highest level since November after stronger-than-expected employment data showed robust hiring trends in early 2024. The dreaded s-word - "stagflation" - has crept back into the economic discussion over the past several weeks amid a resurgence in oil prices alongside economic data showing stubbornly lukewarm economic and inflationary trends. One of a dozen Fed officials to make public remarks this week, Minneapolis President Kashkari - known as one of the more hawkish Fed members - commented that he "jotted down two rate cuts this year," but broached the possibility that the Fed may not cut rates at all this year if inflation progress stalls....
A Crude Problem