This past week saw about a third of the S&P 500 companies report results and earnings, making it the busiest week of the second-quarter earnings season.
On Monday U.S. financial markets sold off as growing fears of a slowing pace of economic growth, increasing delta variant infections, and heightened fears of inflation weighed on investor sentiment.
U.S. inflation remained in the spotlight this week, with core consumer prices (excluding food and energy) increasing by 0.9% in June, nearly twice consensus estimates.
In a meeting of the G-20’s finance ministers and central bank governors on Saturday, the group advocated for a tax plan that would cover how multinational enterprises reallocated profits and the rollout of a global minimum tax.
After moving sideways for most of the last two months, the S&P 500 had its best week since February, reaching a new all-time high, suggesting that the market’s anxiety regarding the Federal Reserve’s hawkish tilt earlier this month has eased. Similarly, the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite index recorded new all-time highs.
The U.S. Federal Reserve held a policy meeting from the 15th to the 16th of June which resulted in surprisingly hawkish outcomes.
The 47th G7 (Group of Seven) summit is currently taking place from 11–13 June 2021 in Cornwall in the United Kingdom.
The U.S. jobs report remained in the spotlight this week, with Friday bringing the closely watched monthly nonfarm payrolls report.