Weekly Talking Points for Financial Advisors (11/6/23)

Read the highlights of this week's commentary from Helios:

• Last week, Wall Street experienced a significant cross-asset rally, with stocks, bonds, and credit markets all gaining simultaneously. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 recorded their best weeks of the year with 5.9% and 6.5% gains, respectively. The 10-year Treasury yield saw the most significant weekly drop since March.
• The rally was the largest of its kind since November 2022, spurred by a belief that the Fed may be ending its most aggressive rate hike cycle in four decades after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) maintained rates at the current target range of 5.25% - 5.50% on Wednesday.
• Following the latest jobs report, which showed a significant slowdown in nonfarm payrolls and an uptick in the unemployment rate from 3.8% to 3.9%, the broad consensus among economists is that the Fed will not raise rates in December. Overall, market expectations have shifted, with Fed swaps now showing traders see only a 15% chance of another rate hike by January.
• In its latest services report, the Institute for Supply Management indicated a significant slowdown in the service sector's growth for October, marking the weakest pace in five months, amid a decline in business activity and a pullback in hiring.