Stocks Move to New Highs as Earnings Season Begins, Strong Economic Data

 Summary of content for the week of  Apr 16:

1. Week 15 major indexes performance;

2. Week 15 US sector indexes performance;

3.Major indexes weekly charts of support and resistance levels;

U.S

U.S moved to new highs for the week ended Apr 16. DJI and SPX indexes recorded their 4^th week of gains and the technology-heavy Nasdaq(COMP) index slightly lagged and stayed just beneath its recent high.

Supportive economic and macro data reports:

ü  Consumer spending rebounds. Retail sales soared 9.8% last month compared with February, handily exceeding estimates and marking the second-fastest monthly acceleration in the last 30 years.

ü  Weekly jobless claims came in at 576,000, well below expectations and a new pandemic-era low.

ü  The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.6% in March from February and increased 2.6% from year-ago levels, the most since 2018.

ü  U.S. Treasury yields fell over the week, with the 10-year Treasury note yield declining to 1.57% from 1.67% the previous Friday.

ü  Corporate earnings growth. As the unofficial earnings season started this week, the overall sentiment seemed to get a boost from banking giants JPMorgan(JPM), Goldman Sachs(GS) and Wells Fargo(WFC).

ü  Vaccine news also appeared to drive sentiment. Markets seemed encouraged by Pfizer’s announcement that it could deliver 10% more of its vaccine by end of May than earlier promised. Modera said its vaccine was more than 90% effective at protecting against COVID-19.

SPX sectors performance. Among 11 SPX sectors, Utility(XLU) and Healthcare(XLV) stocks are among the top performers for the week, while Energy(XLE) and Communication Services(XLC) lagged.

Technically, all three major U.S indexes are in strong uptrending. 

China/HK

China's SSE index fell 0.7% over the week. Asian and Chinese markets were broadly higher Friday following key Chinese economic data. China reported Q1 GDP surged to 18.3% YoY, albeit versus a very low base in 2020 when stringent shutdowns were imposed to contain the initial COVID-19 outlook. 

Technically, SSE has been trapped within its six-week sideway consolidation range and HSI indexes within its five-week price range. 

Singapore

STI has been closed positive in eight weeks( two months) in a row! Very bullish momentum led by the banks. Frasers Logistic & Commercial Trust( Frasers L&C Tr) joined the STI index on Apr 13, replacing Jardine Strategic Holding(JSH) as the latter will be privatized. Technically, STI next major resistance level at around 3300.