2018-05-07 Market Commentary from MundaneAway, Inc. on Vimeo.
It was a mixed week for the markets as only four sectors closed higher on the week. The strongest performer by far was the IT sector as it added just shy of 3 and a quarter percent for the week. This helped to carry the overall NASDAQ higher as it was the only one of the 5 major markets to close in positive territory for the week.
Apple had a lot to do with these gains as the company released positive earnings on Tuesday night. The news helped to lift the stock 4% higher on Wednesday. Additionally, the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffet, announced on Friday that he had purchased 75 million shares of the stock in 1st quarter of this year. The stock climbed another 4% as a result. Apple is an important company to watch as it represents over 4% of the S&P 500 alone due to its market cap.
Midweek, the Fed released their minutes from the latest meeting, leaving the Fed Funds Rate unchanged at 1.50% to 1.75%, as expected.
Finally, the Employment Situation report for April was released Friday morning. The report showed a lower-than-expected 164,000 increase in nonfarm payrolls but also a lower than expected 3.9% in the unemployment rate.