17 May: Market Highlight of the day:
The Dow saw gains on Tuesday, supported by bulls which pushed a rally in the tech and chipset sector, and banks followed with great results.
The Department of Commerce announced on Tuesday that retail sales rose 0.9% last month, in line with expectations and well above the recent trend of slow growth for this time period.
“April retail sales rose solidly and showed no sign that the consumer is cracking under the weight of inflation, higher interest rates or the lack of stimulus payments,” Jefferies said in a note.
Despite the announcement from Commerce Department Jerome Powell, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve has pledged to keep hiking rates until inflation cools.
Powell, said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal: “We need to see inflation coming down in a convincing way…until we see that, we will keep going”
The Federal Reserve Chairman said that the United States’ central bank “wouldn’t hesitate” to go beyond its current neutral rate if it was needed in order to achieve price stability.
The stocks across Europe rose at the end of yesterday, with MSCI’s gauge closing up 2% and STOXX 600 index climbing 1.22%.
Oil prices fell for the first time in five days as market participants showed their displeasure at Europe’s continued waddling over its proposed ban on Russian oil. In response, supply from other key producers have increased amid rising demand worldwide.
