The Wall Street and the prime American indices have rallied like no other, this quarter. The markets have exhibited numbers numbers that are the best in the first quarter since 2019.
Wall Street in Green
During the first three months of the year, the the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped by 5.6 per cent, marking its most robust first-quarter performance since 2019. Concurrently, S&P 500 index surged by 10.2 per cent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also experienced gains of 9.1 per cent.
This is significant given what transpired after 2019, particularly 2022-2022. The pandemic slowed down the supply chain throughout the globe. Although many equity markets scaled new heights in the period, the consistency of the growth was affected by the uncertainty brought to fore by the pandemic.
This also comes at a time, when speculations surrounding a rate hike have been looming over the horizon. However, the inflation rate, which is what would dictate the said rate cut has been inconsistent, and has not matched the expectations of many analysts, who have anticipated a steady decline in the inflation rate of the largest economy in the world.
The Inflation-Interest Stage
The Inflation rate rose from 2.9 per cent in December, to 3.1 per cent in January and unexpectedly the rate increased further to 3.2 per cent in February.
The Federal Reserve in the recent meeting held between 19-20 March left the rates unchanged, as anticipated by many. In addition, the Fed Chair, Jerome Powell did indicate towards a rate cut in the near future.
With the surge of Tech companies, riding high on the AI wave, including the astronomical advancement and growth, that Nvidia has witnessed, the room and scope for an expansion into further greener territory look strong.
In the last week of March, trading ended on 28 March, as the markets were shut on 29 March on account of Good Friday. Dow Jones ended the month's trade on 39,807.37, gaining 0.12 per cent. S&P 500 also ended in green on 5,254.35, gaining 0.11 per cent. Meanwhile, Nasdaq ended on 16,379.46, having lost 0.12 per cent on Thursday.
