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Markets and Economy

Nationwide’s Chief of Investment Research and the Nationwide Economics team offer daily and weekly commentary and analysis of the equity and bond markets, including an overview of economic data being released, global market news, commodities and market performance by index returns. These timely insights can help you navigate markets and understand emerging trends.

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Capital Market Impact
January 30, 2023 4 minute reading time.

Rally continues as investors hope for a soft landing

Technical indicators are increasingly supportive, as the S&P 500 has been above the 200-day moving average for a week, and the 50-day moving average will likely break above the 200-day moving average (“golden cross”) for the first time since last March in the next few days. Institutional investors and hedge funds remain conservatively positioned, and money market assets are at record levels. Wall Street strategists are also notably bearish, with the average estimate for the year-end S&P 500 below the current level, indicating that those numbers could be revised higher, the market is ahead of itself, or a combination of the two. 
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Economic Commentary
January 30, 2023 3 minute reading time.

GDP details show waning momentum for 2023: Weekly Economic Review & Outlook

Headline real GDP growth remained solid in the fourth quarter underpinning a rebound in the second half of 2022 that more than recovered the decline recorded in the first half of the year. Unfortunately, the underlying details of the GDP report were less impressive, showing that consumer and business spending was slowing heading into the new year. In positive news, the PCE price data for December were encouraging, but inflation remains far above the Fed's 2 percent target. 
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Capital Market Impact
January 23, 2023 3 minute reading time.

Markets pause on investor confusion

Equity markets took a breather following a strong start to the year, as the soft-landing narrative came under increased scrutiny following macro data and modestly disappointing earnings. Additionally, a contentious debate over the debt ceiling has some investors concerned about the politicization of default fears. The S&P 500® Index lost nearly 1% for the week, though the market remains 3% higher for the year. 

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