SPX: risky optimism

A strong performance of the S&P 500 and increased investors optimism was back during the previous week. Despite hotter than expected inflation figures for January, the market was pushing the index to the higher grounds during the week. The highest weekly level was reached on Friday at 6.122, still the ATH has not been breached on this occasion. The reason for investors optimism analysts are noting a more clarity over US Administration trade tariffs, on one side, and a drop in retail sales of -0,9% in January, much higher from market expectations. The combination of released data is pointing that the current elevated inflation is not putting pressure on Fed rates. The S&P 500 gained around 1,5% for the week.

Analysts from JPMorgan noted that the participation of earnings of the so-called Magnificent Seven tech companies included in the S&P 500 index are beginning to slow down compared to other companies included in this index. On the other hand, analysts from Swiss largest bank, UBS, are pointing to potential negative effects of US trade tariffs for the US economy. They are mentioning retaliation risks from trading with the US in case of higher tariffs. This points out that despite current market optimism, there are still ongoing risks which could easily impact investors' optimistic mood, and bring back higher volatility to the US equity markets.