Welcome to this week’s AHR market review for the week ending 28th July 2024.

The S&P 500 and NASDAQ experienced their second consecutive weekly decline amid volatile trading, while the Dow Jones bucked the trend, marking its fourth straight weekly gain.

In a surprising turn, the U.S. economy expanded at a faster-than-expected pace in the second quarter, driven by robust consumer spending and business investment.

The increase in GDP was bolstered by inventory accumulation and heightened government expenditure.

The Commerce Department also released data on core personal consumption expenditures (PCE), excluding food and energy, which rose slightly more than expected by 0.2% in June.

The continued deflationary trend seems to have solidified market expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in September.

As we progress through the second-quarter earnings season, approximately 41% of S&P 500 companies have reported results, with earnings on track to increase by 9.7% year-on-year, surpassing initial estimates of 9% growth at the end of the first quarter.

The most significant positive earnings surprises are emerging from the financials, energy, and healthcare sectors, rather than technology and other growth sectors.

US equities fell almost 1% for the week whilst US technology dropped off over 2%. As the rotation in US equities continues, US value rose over 0.5%.

That’s all for this week’s AHR Weekly Podcast. Thank you for listening and for further investment insights head over to ahrprivatewealth.com.