Market Recap
Week of Feb. 21 through Feb. 25, 2022 The S&P 500 index rose 0.8% last week as a Thursday-Friday rally managed to erase declines posted earlier in the week amid geopolitical turmoil. The S&P 500 ended Friday's session at 4,384.65, up from last Friday's closing level of 4,348.87. The week's move came in only four sessions as the market was closed on Monday for the Presidents Day holiday. This marks the S&P 500's first weekly gain since the week ended Feb. 4. With just one session remaining in the month, the index is down 2.9% for February to date. It is down 8% for the year to date. In the first two sessions of the week, the S&P 500 tumbled as Russia attacked and invaded Ukraine amid an effort by Russian President Vladimir Putin to topple the Ukraine government. The Ukraine locations being attacked included the Ukrainian capital Kyiv as well as the now-defunct, Soviet-built Chernobyl nuclear power station, the site of the world's worst atomic energy disaster. However, later in the week, the index bounced back as the US announced new sanctions on Russian banks and elites while hopes began to emerge that Russian President Putin might still be open to negotiations. The S&P 500 recorded a 2.2% jump Friday as Moscow signaled openness to talks with the Ukrainian government which helped move the index into the black. The health care and real estate sectors had the largest percentage gains of the week, up 2.7% each, followed by a 2% rise in utilities. Three sectors still ended the week in the red: Consumer discretionary fell 2.2% while consumer staples and energy slipped 0.3% each. The gainers in health care included shares of Moderna (MRNA), which rose 3.8% last week. The maker of one of the COVID-19 vaccines reported it swung to a larger-than-expected profit per share for Q4 while revenue surged and topped analysts' mean estimate. The company also said it has set up a share buyback program of up to $3 billion. In consumer discretionary, shares of travel-related companies were hit hardest. Among them, shares of Booking Holdings (BKNG) fell 13% on the week despite the company's report of higher-than-expected Q4 adjusted earnings per share and revenue. Also among the travel-related companies, shares of cruise operator Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) shed 7.3% after the company reported a wider-than-expected Q4 loss amid weaker-than-expected revenue. Norwegian also warned it expects to record a loss in Q1, noting it "expects to report a net loss until the company is able to resume regular voyages." Next week, the market expects to receive quarterly earnings results from HP (HPQ), Target (TGT), Salesforce.com (CRM), Kroger (KR) and Costco Wholesale (COST). The week's economic data will feature February jobs data to be released Friday by the Labor Department. Other economic reports due next week include February readings on the manufacturing and services sectors from the Institute for Supply Management as well as from Markit. Provided by MT Newswires
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