After a big week of gains last week, the S&P 500 stayed modestly in the green this week as the market digested the election news over the weekend and anticipated additional vaccine news from Moderna, which announced it has sufficient data from its late-stage trial and further announcements expected in the coming days. This would add to the positive Pfizer news earlier.
Inflation was flat in October, below the consensus expectation of a 0.1% increase from the prior month. Year-over-year core CPI is at 1.6%, which is still well below the Fed’s 2% target. Expectations for next year continue to be muted with energy prices likely pushing the number a bit higher early in the year, while economic slack likely continues to drag on other sectors well into next year.
Consumer sentiment, measured by the University of Michigan’s Sentiment survey took a hit in November’s preliminary numbers, declining nearly 5 points to 77.0. Expectations were for a slight increase. Nearly the entire decline was due to worsening future expectations.
Initial jobless claims improved from the week prior and beat expectations at 709K (vs. 731K expectations and 751K the week prior).