MARKET RECAP*
U.S. stocks again climbed to new highs in October, outperforming all other asset classes
- 75% of the S&P 500’s return came from the Technology sector
The S&P 500 finished the month with a gain of +2.4%, putting the index up +16.7% year-to-date
- Top Sectors: Technology (+7.8%), Utilities (+3.9%)
- Bottom Sectors: Telecommunications (-7.6%), Consumer Staples (-1.4%)
Large Cap Growth outperformed Value in October by 3.2%
- Growth now leads Value by 16.7% on the year, the widest margin since 2009
Large Cap stocks continued to outperform Small Cap stocks on the month, leading by 1.6%
International developed countries underperformed U.S stocks by 0.7% due to a strengthening of the dollar
Emerging markets continue to outperform all other asset classes year-to-date, rising 3.3% on the month
Long-Term Treasury yields were relatively unchanged in October, which lead to flat returns for this asset class
ECONOMIC NEWS**
The economy created 261,000 jobs in October, coming in below expectations
- However, the unemployment rate dropped to 4.1%, the lowest level since late 2000
The quarterly change in U.S. Output Per Hour, a measure of worker productivity, increased by 3.0%
With inflation and the number of new jobs continuing in the right direction, market expectations of another rate hike at the Federal Reserve’s December meeting have risen to 100%**
*Merrill Lynch**Bloomberg. Charts are shown for illustrative purposes only. Respective services provided by ARGI Investment Services, LLC, a Registered Investment Adviser, ARGI CPAs and Advisors, PLLC, ARGI Business Services, LLC, and Advisor Insurance Solutions. All are affiliates of ARGI Financial Group.
