VRAI - Fed Loses Control

• The sell-off deepened across U.S. equity markets this week after the Fed announced aggressive measures to combat persistent inflation, sending equities plunging to their lowest levels since the initial vaccine approvals.
• Now having declined in ten of the past eleven weeks, the S&P 500 dipped 6.1% on the week - its worst decline since the depths of the pandemic in March.
• The Equity REIT Index declined 5.3% on the week. The selling pressure was sharper across the more economically-sensitive property sectors, as Mortgage REITs dipped 14% while Homebuilders declined 16%.
• A wave of REIT dividend hikes was a bright spot amid the carnage this week, as four equity REITs and four mortgage REITs hiked their dividends, bringing the full-year total across the sector to over 70.
• New home construction in the U.S. cooled to the lowest level in more than a year in May, as soaring mortgage rates and ongoing supply chain challenges have prompted builders to pump the brakes on new development despite historically low supply levels.

For further details see: