Weekly Review (August 12-16)

STOCKS

US stocks saw their strongest weekly gains of 2024 to break a four-week losing streak as volatility ebbed. Investor sentiment continued to improve last week due to the latest US data that pointed to falling inflation and still resilient consumer. The CPI in July increased 2.9% on a yearly basis to come in below 3.0% for the first time since early 2021. Wholesale prices came in better than forecast to rise 2.2% last month. Meanwhile, US retail sales came in at 1.0% month-over-month in July, surpassing consensus forecast for around 0.4%. Of note, sales increased by the most in 1-1/2 years. Also on the positive side, initial jobless claims declined relative to the previous week to mark a one-month low. Against this backdrop, the Dow Jones rose 3% and the S&P 500 added 4%. Of note, the blue-chip index is now just 2% below its all-time high registered a month ago. The Nasdaq Composite jumped more than 5% for the week to outperform its peers due to the tech sector's 7.6% average gain.</p>