The stock market ended last week with losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.6% and 2.4%, respectively. Since the beginning of the year, the major market indexes have been facing substantial selling pressure due to investors’ concerns over aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve to tame the multi-decade high inflation, supply disruptions arising out of the continuing Ukraine-Russia war, rising energy and commodity prices, and the possibility of a recession.
The stronger-than-expected May jobs data is expected to reinforce a series of rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. Allianz Investment Management’s senior investment strategist Charlie Ripley said in a note, “Overall, the jobs report reinforces the strength of the overall economy, but also indicates the Fed still has their work cut out for them and may need to continue 50 basis point rate hikes through the autumn months.”
