First Merchants Resource Library | Financial Education Bank Blog Story

U.S. equities maintained their upward momentum last week with support from healthy economic data and continued moderation in inflation readings. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones each gained 0.6% for the week, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.0%.

Each year, more than a million Americans will fall victim to identity theft, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Stock markets gained for the second week in a row with the Fed’s first rate cut since 2020 and strong manufacturing numbers. The S&P 500 gained 1.39% for the week, hitting its 39th all-time high of 2024.

U.S. equity markets closed out Friday with the highest weekly return of 2024 following the worst loss on the year in the week prior. The rebound was supported by a recovery in AI enthusiasm that boosted tech stocks as well as the release of inflation data that reinforced expectations for the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates at this week’s meeting.

U.S. stock indexes posted some of the steepest weekly declines in more than a year, with the NASDAQ down nearly 6%, the S&P 500 falling more than 4%, and the Dow declining almost 3%.