REFI - Failure Fallout

2023-03-12 09:00:00 ET

Summary

• U.S. equity markets tumbled this week after the sudden collapse of a pair of technology-focused banks sparked concerns over financial stability and overshadowed a generally solid slate of employment data.
• Effectively erasing all of its gains for the year and posting its worst week since September 2022, the S&P 500 dipped 4.5% while the Mid-Cap and Small-Cap benchmarks plunged 7%.
• Real estate equities were slammed particularly hard as investors drew parallels to the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis when locked-up credit markets created a cascade of distress.
• The Equity REIT Index dipped 7% this week. Sixteen office REITs plunged over 10% on concerns that the SVB fallout could intensify headwinds on both the demand and financing side.
• The U.S. economy added 311k jobs in February - above expectations of 205k, but the relevant inflation-related metric - Average Hourly Earnings - was cooler than expected while the unemployment rate increased.

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