Weekly Market Brief: July 10, 2023

Stock prices gave back some of their year-to-date gains, as strong jobs data pushed interest rates to their highest levels since March. Crude oil, meanwhile, turned in its best performance in 3 months. Gold and Bitcoin both moved modestly higher as the Dollar gave up early-week gains to finish lower.

Relatively Speaking

Stock prices continued to rise over the last month, led by a 7.5% rally in the Consumer Discretionary sector. Information Technology was also a strong performer, rising 5.5%. Notably, a non-growth oriented sector climbed out of the cellar to help lead the S&P 500 higher. Industrials jumped 4.0%, outpacing the benchmark’s 3.1% gain.

Leadership over the past month mirrors largely that of the year-to-date period. Information Technology (+40.0%), Communication Services (+35.2%), and Consumer Discretionary (+31.9%) are atop the standings. Investing in any other area would have yielded a return well below that of the S&P 500’s 14.6% YTD gain. Energy (-7.9%) and Utilities (-5.1%) are the worst performers.

What’s Ahead

Here are the key data releases and events to keep on eye on in the coming days.