Stocks End Mixed On Friday, But All Of The Indexes Closed Higher For The Week

Market Moves You Need to See Stocks End Mixed On Friday, But All Of The Indexes Closed Higher For The Week [Kevin Matras - EVP - Photo] Profit from the Pros By Kevin Matras Executive Vice President Stocks End Mixed On Friday, But All Of The Indexes Closed Higher For The Week Stocks closed mostly lower on Friday, although the Nasdaq ended in the green. But all of the major indexes finished higher for the week. Last Wednesday's FOMC announcement, and subsequent press conference by Fed Chair Jerome Powell, reassured the market that while disinflation has slowed, the Fed still expects to cut interest rates 3 times (presumably by 25 basis points each), by year's end. He also assuaged investor's concerns about the resiliently strong jobs market by saying, "strong job growth is not a reason for us to be concerned about inflation," and that "strong hiring all by itself would not be a reason to hold off on rate cuts." Stocks cheered the news. The Fed maintains, however, that they will remain data dependent. And the next piece of inflation data comes out on Friday 3/29, with the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index. That's the Fed's preferred inflation gauge. Last month's core (ex-food & energy) PCE index came in at 2.8%. That's still above the Fed's 2% target, but it's fallen more from 2022's peak of 5.3%, than it has left to go to get to 2%. The markets are increasingly buying into the narrative that a soft landing is underway. And rightly so, as the data underscores this. All of the indexes are doing well this year with the Dow up 4.74%, the S&P 500 up 9.74%, the Nasdaq Composite up 9.44%, the small-cap Russell 2000 up 2.22%, and the mid-cap S&P 400 up 7.54%. But I wanted to point out that the often overlooked mid-cap index is having a particularly solid month. Over the last 4 weeks, it was the top performing index gaining 4.66%, more than all of the other indexes that were up less than 3% (although still impressive), and some less than 2% (also still impressive). So keep that in mind as you're looking for new stocks to consider. This week we'll have a normal week of economic reports like most weeks. But the main event will be Friday's PCE inflation report. In the meantime, the market will see if it can build upon last week's upside breakout. See you tomorrow, [Kevin Matras - Signature] Kevin Matras Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research [Why Haven't You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?]( Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.0 average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +44.9%, +48.4% and +55.2% per year. Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation. 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