Updated: 04-Jun-21
A weekly recap of market activity and events, featuring commentary, analysis written with individual investors in mind.
Week in perspective provided by Briefing.com. Briefing.com offers live market analysis on their web site www.Briefing.com
June Begins on Strong Note
The stock market ended the first week of June on a higher note with the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq advancing a respective 0.7%, 0.6%, and 0.5%.
The first half of the abbreviated week was very quiet, as the S&P 500 shed two points on Tuesday and gained six on Wednesday. That masked a strong start from the energy sector, which gained 6.7% during the week, extending its year-to-date advance to 45.3%. The sector benefited from a 5.0% rally in the price of oil, which climbed to $69.61/bbl, its highest level since mid-October 2018.
Growth stocks showed some weakness on Thursday, pressuring sectors like technology, communication services, and consumer discretionary. However, they bounced on Friday as Treasury yields fell in response to a weaker than expected Employment Situation report for May. Technology and communication services gained a respective 1.2% and 0.6% for the week while the consumer discretionary sector lost 1.0%.
The past week saw renewed volatility in stocks that made headlines earlier this year. AMC (AMC) surged 95.2% on Wednesday and gained 83.4% for the week while GameStop (GME) and Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY ) gained a respective 11.9% and 13.3% for the week.
On the news front, the G-7 neared an agreement on a 15% global minimum corporate tax while the Biden administration negotiated the terms of an infrastructure spending package with Republicans. The administration also signaled openness to implementing a minimum corporate tax rate of 15% instead of raising the top rate to 28% from 21%.