The market did a nice job of building on a rebound that started on Monday. Fed Chair Jerome Powell sounded a dovish tone at a Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday morning, and that helped to lift some of the recent pressures caused by inflation and interest rate concerns.
Growth stocks were the leaders, with the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) , jumping 1.6% while the Dow Jones lagged with a minor gain of 0.13% as financials lagged. Breadth was very good at three to one positive, and new highs and new lows were close to even.
It was a nice relief bounce after the selling pressure over the past week, but Wednesday morning's consumer price index report could easily shake things up. The market is dealing with the shock of a series of interest rate hikes starting in March, but there is still a vigorous debate over how aggressive the Fed will need to be. Some pundits believe that the Fed will not need to be as hawkish as feared, while others believe it is far behind where it should be and that even more hikes will be necessary.
Many stocks are a mess technically, but the fact that the number of new 12-month lows contracted quite a bit over the 1,000 number that was hit last week is a sign that support is building. There is still much work to do, but technical conditions are better as we head into earnings season.
Have a good evening. I'll see you tomorrow.
