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So far Park-Elm has created 188 blog entries.

U.S. Performance Dashboard – October 2024

By | November 5th, 2024|General, Markets|

  • As U.S. equity markets brace themselves for employment numbers, the upcoming Presidential election, and a Fed rate decision, disappointing outlooks from Big Tech led to a retreat in mega-cap strength on the final trading day of October. The S&P 500® declined by 1% for the month, although large caps outpaced their small-cap peers.
  • On the back of strong earnings and disinversion of the yield curve, Financials led among large-cap sectors, up 3%, while Materials and Health Care lagged.
  • Momentum and Enhanced Value were the sole positive performers among our reported factor indices.
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U.S. Performance Dashboard – September 2024

By | October 1st, 2024|General, Markets|

  • Thanks to optimism surrounding a soft landing, encouraging inflation results, and recent Fed rate cuts, U.S. markets experienced a broadening of the rally in Q3. The S&P 500® continued to hit record highs, finishing the quarter up 6%. Despite the recent pullback in the rotation toward small caps, the S&P SmallCap 600® outperformed its large- and mid-cap peers, up 10% in Q3.
  • With the exception of Energy, all sectors posted gains, with Utilities and Real Estate in the lead, up 19% and 17%, respectively.
  • All of our reported factor indices posted gains, led by Low Volatility High Dividend and our other dividend-based indices, consistent with the defensive sentiment observed among sectors.
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U.S. Performance Dashboard – August 2024

By | September 3rd, 2024|General, Markets, Volatility|

  • Thanks to optimism surrounding a soft landing and encouraging inflation results, U.S. large-cap equities managed to recover from the trouncing of stocks at the start of the month to finish August with a gain. The S&P 500® was up 2% in August, outpacing the S&P MidCap 400® and the S&P SmallCap 600®.
  • Consumer Staples and Real Estate led among large-cap sectors. Meanwhile, Energy and Consumer Discretionary were the laggards, a potential signal of risk-off sentiment carrying over from the global tumult earlier in the month.
  • In another sign of defense, low volatility and low volatility high dividend strategies led among our reported factor indices.
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U.S. Performance Dashboard – July 2024

By | August 1st, 2024|General, Quarterly Market Review|

  • Propelled by weakness in Big Tech coupled with expectations of potential Fed rate cuts, the market witnessed a significant rotation toward smaller-cap stocks in July. The S&P MidCap 400® and the S&P SmallCap 600® were up 6% and 11%, respectively, outperforming the S&P 500® by a significant margin.
  • Real Estate and Utilities led among large-cap sectors, while Information Technology and Communication Services were the laggards.
  • Most of our reported factor indices posted gains, led by dividend and value strategies, another sign of the market’s rotation away from Growth and Momentum, which have been the leaders YTD.dashboard-us-2024-07

U.S. Performance Dashboard – June 2024

By | July 3rd, 2024|Markets|

  • Markets shrugged off inflation concerns and uncertainty over the timing of potential Fed rate cuts thanks to AI-related optimism. Powered by mega-cap outperformance, U.S. large-cap equities surged upwards, with the S&P 500 up 4% and the S&P 500 Top 50 up 9% in Q2.
  • Mid and small caps didn’t fare as well as their large-cap peers, with the S&P MidCap 400 and the S&P SmallCap 600 both down 3%.
  • Information Technology and Communication Services were the top-performing sectors, up 14% and 9%, respectively.dashboard-us-2024-06

U.S. Performance Dashboard – May 2024

By | June 4th, 2024|Markets, Quarterly Market Review|

  • Despite weakness in the final trading week of May, U.S. large-cap equities posted their best monthly performance since February, with the S&P 500 up 5%, thanks to AI-related optimism boosting Information Technology and Utilities stocks.
  • Mid and small caps fared similarly to their large-cap peers, with the S&P MidCap 400 and the S&P SmallCap 600 up 4% and 5%, respectively.
  • Except for Energy, all sectors posted gains, led by Information Technology, up 10%.   dashboard-us-2024-05

U.S. Performance Dashboard – April 2024

By | May 1st, 2024|General, Markets|

  • As growing concerns surrounding rising inflation and the resulting hawkish sentiment from the Fed led to market jitters, U.S. equities tumbled in April, with the S&P 500® down 4%.
  • Mid and small-caps fared worse than their large-cap peers, with the S&P MidCap 400® and the S&P SmallCap 600® both down 6%.
  • All sectors posted losses, with the exception of Utilities, up 2%.dashboard-us-2024-04

U.S. Performance Dashboard – March 2024

By | April 1st, 2024|Markets|

  • Despite uncertainty surrounding potential Fed rate cuts, economic strength and diminishing recession fears led to the best Q1 U.S. market performance since 2019, with the S&P 500® up 11%. Mega-cap dominance was pervasive, with the S&P 500 Top 50 up 12%.
  • The broadening of the rally continued in March, with the S&P MidCap 400® up 6%, outpacing the S&P 500’s 3% gain.
  • Except for Real Estate, all sectors posted gains in Q1, led by Communication Services and Energy.
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U.S. Performance Dashboard – February 2024

By | March 1st, 2024|Markets|

  • Markets shook off looming concerns over inflation and the Fed’s future rate trajectory with more record highs in February, driving the S&P 500® up 5%. With a consistent tailwind of interest in AI and generally better than expected Q4 earnings, mega caps continued to show strength with the S&P 500 Top 50 up 6%.
  • While small caps lagged, the rally began to broaden with mid caps slightly outpacing their large-cap counterparts, with the S&P MidCap 400® up 6%.
  • All sectors posted gains, led by Consumer Discretionary and Industrials.
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U.S. Performance Dashboard – January 2024

By | February 1st, 2024|Markets|

  • Despite a sharp drop on the final trading day of the month post Fed Chair Powell’s comments indicating rate cuts were not imminent, the S&P 500® rose 2% in January. The month was characterized by a series of record highs, driven by strength from the Magnificent 7, which propelled the mega-cap S&P 500 Top 50 up 3%.
  • Strong Q4 2023 economic data also dampened optimism that the Fed would be able to begin cutting rates as soon as March, reflected in the underperformance of smaller caps, with the S&P SmallCap 600® down 4%.
  • Sector performance was mixed, with gains led by Communication Services and Information Technology. Materials and Real Estate were among the laggards
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