Weekly Market Recap
July 23, 2021
The S&P 500 finished strong with a new high after initially selling off on Monday, resulting in a swing of over 4% from low to high this week. Stocks initially sold off on concerns of rising COVID, attributed to the more contagious Delta variant. Stocks gained each day thereafter as quarterly earnings reports came in generally better than expected. Earlier this week the National Bureau of Economic Research said the 2020 recession only lasted 2 months, with a trough in April 2020, making it the nation’s shortest downturn on record. This followed a 10+ year expansion that was the longest in records dating back over 150 years. The shortest recession before this was six months in 1980. Seemingly following the Fed’s playbook, the European Central Bank said it expects its rates to remain low until it sees inflation reaching 2% or more. Back in the U.S., housing starts and existing home sales came in above expectations; next week we look forward to the first read on Q2 GDP, which may show 8.5% growth in the quarter. If your needs are changing or if you would like more information on the markets or your portfolio, please contact your Buckingham advisor at https://mybuckingham.com/contact.
Ryan P. Johnson, CFA, CFP®
Director of Portfolio Management & Research