It was more of the same at Jackson Hole on Thursday, with little in the way of new commentary for markets to digest.
Fed Chair Powell confirmed the possibility that tapering begins this year assuming the economic recovery continues as expected. As we know from 2020, that is a significant assumption.
Markets responded by closing at new records, the Nasdaq adding 1.2% after bond rates contracted slightly.
Every sector finished higher but particularly energy and mining, which sent the Dow Jones and S&P 500 up 0.7% and 0.9% respectively.
US benchmarks post weekly gains
It was a similar trend across the week with the Nasdaq continuing its resurgence, up close to 3%, after chipmaker NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) announced it would be increasing the price of its in-demand products.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones finished the week up 1.5% and 1%, respectively, whilst the Russell 2000 Small Cap index had its strongest finish five months.
Consumer spending on the up, inflation at 30-year high
Consumer spending continued to improve, adding 0.3%, well behind the 1.0% growth in June with additional parenting payments not flowing through.
Inflation remains at a 30-year high, printing at 4.2%. However, it remains clearly driven by shortages and supply chain issues rather than being a sustained increase in prices.
China looks to stimulate again
The Chinese government has flagged the recommencement of stimulus in 2021 after being the first to put the handbrake on their economy in 2020, suggesting the second half may be positive for investors in Asia.
Affirm rockets on Amazon rumours
Finally, the BNPL frenzy continued with shares in US player Affirm (NASDAQ: AFRM) jumping 35% in after-market trade on rumours it would be the preferred provider to Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN).
This has since been confirmed, with Affirm’s payment solution to soon be available to Amazon customers at checkout for purchases of US$50 or more.
The partnership comes despite Amazon working with Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) here in Australia.
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US stock market movers
Here’s how other popular US stocks closed out the week on Friday.
- Bill.com (NYSE: BILL) up 29.6%
- Workday (NASDAQ: WDAY) up 9.1%
- Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) up 4.3%
- Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) down 3.5%
- Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) down 4.5%
- Peloton (NASDAQ: PTON) down 8.5%
Back home on the ASX, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is tipped to follow US markets higher at the open on Monday as ASX reporting season continues.
