While 2022 has been a gloomy year on the markets, it seems that things could slowly be turning the corner. This is because the S&P 500 is looking to have its best month since 2020. It came after a day’s trading where major tech brands like Apple and Amazon enjoyed strong gains and the S&P 500 futures all got a positive start on the markets on Friday morning.
Wall Street has had a torrid time recently, but this week and the month as a whole look have ended higher across futures tied to the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Across last week, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were the best performers each posting gains of 2.8%, while the Dow could be up over 2% by the end of Friday’s trading.
However, it’s the monthly gains that make the best reading. The Nasdaq Composite has enjoyed a remarkable turnaround having gained over 10% during July, while the S&P 500 is expected to finish the month just below an 8% rise. Even the Dow could be on course for a good month with a gain of over 5% expected for July.
The end of the month has proven to be especially good for two of the biggest market performers – Amazon and Apple. In particular, Amazon enjoyed a spectacular Thursday where its share price jumped by 12% after it reported a better than expected sales performance over the past three months. Apple also enjoyed a good day on the markets with a rise of over 2.5% in its share price after it revealed that revenues from its iPhone were better than hoped.
Other brands that contributed to the market positivity included energy firms such as Exxon Mobil and Chevron whose stock prices rose after their good earnings reports. While there were a few companies like Roku and Intel who didn’t do as well as hoped, it was still a strong response from the markets following a bleak GDP reading and yet another three-quarters interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve.
Have the markets turned the corner?
Wall Street will have certainly greeted the unexpectedly positive news warmly. After all, much of the year has been terrible on the markets with the past six months seeing endless fears and uncertainties about the rampant interest rate hikes imposed by the Fed.
It’s debatable as to what has been the cause of the sudden outbreak of market positivity. Some have speculated that the skyrocketing inflation rates have peaked and other analysts have suggested that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine might end in a kind of stalemate.
While all of this has been positive news for the markets, it comes at a time where the inflation figure followed by the Fed has just hit its highest level since January 1982. All of which means that August’s trading might not carry the same level of positivity enjoyed this July.
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