2023-04-21 20:30:10 ET
The S&P 500 ( SP500 ) on Friday slipped marginally by 0.10% for the week to close at 4,133.52 points, with the benchmark index ending near the flatline in each of its five sessions. Its accompanying SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF ( NYSEARCA: SPY ) also fell slightly by 0.07% for the week.
A chunk of the spotlight during the week was taken up by the earnings season. Investors digested quarterly reports from household names such as Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ), Bank of America ( BAC ), Goldman Sachs ( GS ), AT&T ( T ), American Express ( AXP ) and Procter & Gamble ( PG ).
Two highly anticipated reports came from Netflix ( NFLX ) and Tesla ( TSLA ). The streaming giant posted a narrow miss on revenue, a beat on profit and subscriber additions and provided tepid guidance, leading to a varied reaction from analysts. Meanwhile, the electric vehicle maker highlighted an impact to its margins from higher expenses and several rounds of price cuts.
Overall, the earnings announcements so far have not spurred a lot of enthusiasm in traders. Next week the season picks up steam significantly, with heavyweight companies such as Alphabet ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ), Microsoft ( MSFT ), Amazon ( AMZN ), Meta ( META ), Boeing ( BA ) and Coca-Cola ( KO ) on tap.
Outside of earnings, sentiment during the week was also affected after economic data continued to show a slowdown in various areas of the economy. This data included a more-than-expected rise in the number of Americans filing for jobless claims, an eight straight negative reading in the Philly Fed business outlook index, a higher-than-anticipated fall in existing home sales and a decline in U.S. leading indicators.
Market participants are worried that the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate-hiking campaign is now having its intended effect at an accelerated rate, which in turn has stoked concerns of a so-called hard landing and a U.S. recession. According to the CME FedWatch tool, a 25 basis point hike by the Fed's monetary policy committee at its meeting in May is now seen as mostly certain. The probability of yet another 25 bp hike after that in June is also gathering some traction.
Turning to the weekly performance of the S&P 500 ( SP500 ) sectors, six ended in the green, led by Consumer Staples and Real Estate. Communication Services and Energy topped the losers. See below a breakdown of the weekly performance of the sectors as well as their accompanying SPDR Select Sector ETFs from April 14 close to April 21 close:
#1: Consumer Staples +1.68% , and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLP ) +1.85% .
#2: Real Estate +1.59% , and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLRE ) +1.58% .
#3: Utilities +1.09% , and the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLU ) +1.06% .
#4: Financials +0.98% , and the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLF ) +1.00% .
#5: Industrials +0.75% , and the Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLI ) +0.78% .
#6: Consumer Discretionary +0.53% , and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLY ) +0.32% .
#7: Health Care -0.24% , and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLV ) -0.20% .
#8: Materials -0.31% , and the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLB ) -0.28% .
#9: Information Technology -0.46% , and the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLK ) -0.60% .
#10: Energy -2.54% , and the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLE ) -2.58% .
#11: Communication Services -3.05% , and the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLC ) -2.60% .
Below is a chart of the 11 sectors' YTD performance and how they fared against the S&P 500. For investors looking into the future of what's happening, take a look at the Seeking Alpha Catalyst Watch to see next week's breakdown of actionable events that stand out .
For further details see:
S&P 500 largely unchanged for the week ahead of Q1 earnings season deluge