Macro Market Movers

Fed likely to raise rates; median forecast may move to four hikes in 2018. With a rate hike all but priced in at the conclusion of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) policy meeting Wednesday.

Along the way, however, both the Russell 2000 Index and Nasdaq posted new record highs after upbeat data on the services sector followed up last week’s better-than-expected reads.

June has historically been a bland month for the stock market; however, using seasonal analysis may help add some spice to portfolios in an otherwise lackluster time period for U.S. equities.

Stocks on track for weekly gains. The Nasdaq is on pace to lead major U.S. indexes’ advance this week after it posted fresh record highs on Wednesday.

Daily touchpoints with LPL advisors to keep them abreast of key themes driving global markets, politics, and economies are important to us.

The European Central Bank’s (ECB) chief economist Peter Praet stated yesterday that the decision on when to end asset purchases could be made, and potentially announced, at the ECB’s meeting on June 14, 2018.

It’s natural for job growth to wane as the economic cycle ages, when businesses are already running at or near target employment levels and labor is becoming scarcer.

JOLTS makes history. April figures released yesterday showed that the number of job openings, at 6.7 million, topped the number of unemployed people (6.3 million) for the first time in the report’s 18-year history.

As President Trump mentioned on Twitter yesterday, he has officially been in office for 500 calendar days. Although how he has done has led to many an argument at family dinners.

Italian politics dictated market action last week. Yields on Italian government debt spiked last week as investors grew nervous that the country’s populist government would attempt to pull Italy from the European Union.