Weekly Analyst Update — March 29

Wall Street finishes in the green

• All three major US stock indices closed the week on a high, with gains on Friday putting them into positive territory for the week. The SPX500 edged out the DJ30 and NASDAQ100, but the trio each gained around 1.5% during the week.
• Small-cap stocks lagged the major indices last week, with the Russell 2000 benchmark down by close to 3%.

SEC tightens foreign company regulations

• The SEC on Wednesday adopted measures that would kick foreign companies off American stock exchanges if they do not comply with US auditing standards and required them to disclose any governmental affiliations.
• The new rules also require firms to prove to the SEC they are not owned or controlled by an entity of a foreign government and to name any board members who are government officials.
• Some Chinese stocks plummeted over 20% in response.

Vaccine rollout still a major factor

• In the US, jobless claims this week reached their lowest level since the pandemic, falling to 684k from 781k the previous week. This is a good sign to show that the recovery is really back in full swing.
• However, Covid cases have increased again in the US. Overall, the vaccine rollout is going pretty smoothly in the US with Biden asking for 200 million vaccines in 100 days and economists raising their forecasts for economic growth to 5.95% in 2021, which would show the fastest growth burst since 1983.
• The AstraZeneca vaccine has come under scrutiny this week after slow rollouts as well as announcing a change in its effectiveness, from 79% to 76%.
• AstraZeneca has also struggled in terms of production and is receiving backlash from governments around the world.

Tremendous volatility in oil markets

• Oil prices went on a rollercoaster ride last week, showing significant losses on Tuesday and Thursday and recovering on Wednesday and Friday.
• The uptick was brought upon, in part, due to the Evergreen cargo ship that got stuck in the Suez tunnel.
• However, prices fall back below 60$, after trading around 70$ just a few weeks ago.

Bitcoin falls all the way to $50K

• BTC prices started the week with a significant downtrend, falling 9% and later in the week, reaching as low as $50,000 on Thursday.
• However, prices have recovered since.
• Despite the price performance, there were some major news announcements for BTC this week: Elon Musk said Tesla will hold its Bitcoin revenue.
• In addition, the first Bitcoin ETF in the US may soon become a reality, as Fidelity has filed a preliminary registration statement for the fund with the SEC.

The week ahead

• OPEC meeting (Thursday)
• Good Friday holiday around the world (Thursday-Friday)
• NFP report in the US (Friday)

Written by a team of experienced financial analysts at eToro.

This content is for information and educational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice or an investment recommendation. Past performance is not an indication of future results.