Markets End Week, Month, and Quarter on High Note

“In the stock market, the most important organ is the stomach.” — Peter Lynch 

Good evening:

After opening the week with what our Head of Technical Strategy, Mark Newton, called a “sideways grind,” markets turned upwards on Wednesday, with all 11 sectors of the SPX rising. Newton noted that “463 names within SPX rallied on Wednesday out of 500, constituting a ‘90% Up Day.’” The trend continued for the rest of the week, propelling markets to a winning week, month, and quarter. 

At Fundstrat, there are expectations for more of the same in April, a historically positive month. “Technically speaking, markets certainly seem better as March has come to a close than they appeared at the end of February,” Newton said.  

Lee believes the seasonality effect could be further boosted by investors who are currently bearishly positioned. “The key will be whether inflation is falling faster than expected,” he explained. 

With the February PCE coming in today (Friday) at 0.3%, below expectations of 0.4%, that might indeed be the case. Lee also views it as significant and positive that the U. Mich. March final one-year  inflation expectations came in at 3.6%, down from 3.8% two weeks ago and 4.1% in February.