Global equities notch another winning week. Global equities ended another week in the green despite shaky trading across most markets on Friday (3 February) due to a stronger-than-expected January jobs report in the US. Global equities were up 1.0% for the week, with Developed Markets gaining 1.3% and Emerging Markets falling 1.2% respectively.
US equities fell on Friday as the economy added a whopping 517,000 jobs in January, significantly higher than economists’ estimates of 187,000, raising concerns that the Fed might continue aggressive monetary tightening. Nonetheless, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended the week up 1.6% and 3.3%, while the Dow slipped 0.2%. Europe stocks closed higher on the back of a sliding pound; the FTSE 100 rose 1.8% to hit an index record high while the Stoxx 600 edged up 1.2%. Asian equities had a rocky week of trading as allegations of accounting fraud by the Adani Group triggered risk-off sentiments; the HSCEI and Hang Seng were down 5.0% and 4.5% for the week.
Topic in focus: Earnings surprise for S&P 500 companies remains flat. 50% of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported their earnings, with 70% of them registering positive earnings surprise (as of 3 Feb) and this is in-line with the previous quarter. On a sectoral basis, Utilities (100%), Healthcare (87%), and Consumer Discretionary (83%) registered the highest positive earnings surprise and this marks a stark contrast to the previous quarter where the top three sectors leading the pack were Industrials (82%), Technology (76%), and Healthcare (73%). In terms of earnings growth, 62% reported positive growth (vs 59% in previous quarter) and the top three sectors were Utilities (100%), Energy (100%), and Real Estate (86%).