The Federal Reserve will take center stage in the coming days as Wall Street attempts to put a mixed week behind it. The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday registered its seventh consecutive down session, its longest losing streak since 2020, on its way to falling 1.8% for the week. The S & P 500 also posted a losing week, declining 0.6%. However, the Nasdaq eked out a 0.34% gain thanks to its outsized exposure to large technology stocks. Although it was a relatively light week of economic data, the two main reports — the November consumer price index report Wednesday, and Thursday’s producer price index for November — were significant. They represented the last look at U.S. inflation before the Fed gathers for a two-day policy meeting this week. The CPI, which is the more closely watched of the two readings because it covers prices paid by consumers, matched estimates, up 2.7% on a 12-month basis . A key blemish in the CPI report was the shelter index, which was up 4.7% annually, the latest sign of sticky housing inflation . Meanwhile, the PPI, which offers a look at wholesale inflation, was hotter than expected Thursday, up 0.4% for the month versus the Dow Jones estimate of 0.2% . However, the market still expects to see the Fed cut rates by a quarter percentage point on Wednesday afternoon, which would reduce its target range to 4.25% to 4.5%. Signs of softening in the labor market help support the Fed’s case for lower rates. .SPX .IXIC,.DJI 1M mountain The S & P 500’s one-month performance versus the Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average. Within the portfolio, the highlight of the week was Thursday night, when Costco posted a strong set of quarterly results and Broadcom delivered an absolute blowout report. Costco offered more evidence that its premium stock valuation is warranted. Broadcom cemented its status as one of the biggest artificial intelligence winners on Wall Street — and joined the vaunted $1 trillion market cap club thanks to a 24.4% surge in Friday’s session. Broadcom was, perhaps unsurprisingly, the top-performing stock in the S & P 500 for the week, gaining 25.2%. That still wasn’t enough to lift the broader tech sector in the green for the week, though. Only two sectors out of the 11 in the S & P 500 ended in positive territory: communication services and consumer discretionary. The performance of communication services was due in large part to a nearly 9% surge in shares of Google parent Alphabet , a Club holding. Investors cheered a breakthrough in quantum computing announced by Google, as well as news that General Motors was bailing on its robotaxi service Cruise , which is good news for Alphabet-owned Waymo . A 12% weekly gain for Tesla shares was the driving force behind the consumer discretionary outperformance. The electric vehicle maker’s stock is now up over 70% since Donald Trump won the presidential election in November. Jim interviewed Trump after he rang the opening bell at the New…
Read More: Here are 13 things we’re watching in the market in the week ahead
