By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 18th, 2024
While anticipations are high, billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones warns that a wrong move or comment from the Fed Chairman Jerome Powell could spark a sell-off in risk assets.
The broader United States stock market took off the week with impressive gains as the Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ: .IXIC) attained a new all-time high (ATH). The tech-heavy benchmark closed Monday’s session with a growth of 12.54%, adding 1,579.08 points to close at its highest level of 14,174.14 in the past 6 months. The current performance surpasses the 14,095.47 marks set on Feb. 12, and the previous peak of 14,138.78 attained on the 26th of April.
The ATH growth in the Nasdaq Composite had a rub off on the S&P 500 (INDEXSP: .INX) as the broader index surged 0.18% to 4,255.15. Of the major indices, only the Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded a slight reversal, dropping 0.25% to 34,393.75. While the 30-stock Dow Jones dropped 0.8% in the past week, the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 grew 1.9% and 0.4% respectively.
“The broad market’s modest performance is pretty much in line with historical patterns— specifically, June’s tendency for generally quiet trading,” said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading at E-Trade Financial. “As the market continues to sort through potential moves made by the Fed and looming inflation, we could continue to see this narrative play out in the short-term.”
Nasdaq Composite ATH: Growth Fueled by Expectations from the Feds
Investors in the US stock market are looking towards growth stocks as expectations of bullish pronouncements are said to come from the Fed ahead of the proposed two-days policy meeting. While the Federal Reserve is not expected to alter its stance on hiking the interest rates until 2023, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Monday, investors are hopeful some of the outcomes of the meeting will eventually move the market.
While anticipations are high, billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones warns that a wrong move or comment from the Fed Chairman Jerome Powell could spark a sell-off in risk assets.
“If they course correct, if they say, ‘We’ve got incoming data, we’ve accomplished our mission or we’re on the way very rapidly to accomplishing our mission on employment,’ then you’re going to get a taper tantrum,” Tudor Jones said. “You’re going to get a sell-off in fixed income. You’re going to get a correction in stocks.”
The Nasdaq Composite attained its ATH on the backdrop of tech stocks that saw impressive runs on Monday. The electric automaker, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) surged 1.28% to $617.69 per share. Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) grew 2.46% to $130.48 while Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) jumped 0.78% to $259.89.