In today’s issue of the 1-Minute Market Report I examine the asset classes, sectors, equity groups, and ETFs that led the market lower last week. By keeping an eye on the leaders and laggards, we can get a sense of where the big money is going, and where it’s coming from.
The S&P 500 pulls back.
The market took a well-deserved rest last week after hitting a 2023 high on June 15th. This chart shows the daily closing prices for June. The pullback was mild and I expect more downside over the next few weeks.
June is still going strong.
Despite the minor pullback, June is still up by 4%. This chart shows the monthly gains and losses for each of the last 12 months.
The bull market is alive and well.
This chart highlights the 21.6% gain in the S&P 500 from the October 2022 low through Friday’s close. The S&P 500 finished Thursday, June 15 at its highest level in 14 months. The index is up 13.3% year to date and is 9.3% below its record high close on January 3, 2022.
Major asset class performance.
Here is a look at the performance of the major asset classes, sorted by last week’s returns. I also included the year-to-date returns as well as the returns since the October 12, 2022 low for additional context.
The best performer last week was the EQM Blockchain Index, which is designed to measure the performance of global companies actively involved in the development and implementation of blockchain technologies. The index includes a diversified range of companies, including those engaged in blockchain applications, digital asset mining, cryptocurrency exchanges, blockchain-enabled financial services, and other related activities.
The worst performing asset class last week was Asian large caps, as China experienced a sharp pullback. Precious metals also gave back some of their recent gains last week.
Equity sector performance
For this report I use the expanded sectors as published by Zacks. They use 16 sectors rather than the standard 11. This gives us added granularity as we survey the winners and losers.
Construction and Healthcare held up last week. Real Estate and Energy saw sharp declines.
Equity group performance
For the groups, I separate the stocks in the S&P 1500 Composite Index by shared characteristics like growth, value, size, cyclical, defensive, and domestic vs. foreign.
The top 7 stocks by market cap (big tech names, like Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet) held up last week, if only barely. This was by far the worst performing equity group last year.
Emerging Market and Foreign Developed stocks had a tough week.
The 10 best performing ETFs from last week
The 10 worst performing ETFs from last week
Final thoughts
Despite the mild pullback last week, this year’s rally is alive and well. The market’s Achilles heel is the narrow leadership, with big cap tech names running miles ahead of the rest of the crowd. But there are signs that more market segments are starting to participate now.
Construction, copper and gold miners, infrastructure, and aerospace & defense are all ahead of the S&P 500 since the October lows. As the weeks and months go by, I expect to see more participation in this bull market.
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