- The Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen 13.3% in 2022, while the S&P 500 has fallen 17.7%
- The S&P Retail Select Industry index fell 9.6% last week
- Existing home sales fell 2.4% in April, the third straight monthly decline
Top Three Market Headlines
Dow Hits Longest Losing Streak Since 1932: The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell last week for the eighth straight week, matching its longest streak of weekly losses since 1932. On the week, the Dow lost 2.9%, bringing its year-to-date loss to 13.3%. 23 of the 30 stocks comprising the index have declined in 2022. The broader-market S&P 500 index has fallen for seven straight weeks, but its year-to-date loss has been greater, at 17.7%. In fact, the S&P briefly touched bear market territory (a 20% drop from its most recent high) intraday on Friday. The worst-performing widely-followed index, however, has been the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index, which showed a 27% year-to-date loss through last Friday.
Turbulent Week for Retail Stocks: The S&P Retail Select Industry index endured a 9.6% decline last week, its worst week in more than a year. Retail stocks of all sorts saw sharp losses after disappointing earnings reports from bellwether retailers Walmart and Target, both of which flagged higher transportation costs and consumers purchasing fewer discretionary items amid higher inflation. The pressure on retail stocks came despite the U.S. Census Bureau reporting earlier in the week that sales at retail and food service establishments rose a seasonally adjusted 0.9% in April from the prior month, the fourth straight monthly increase. However, after excluding the effects of price increases, the amount of real, or inflation-adjusted, retail sales was likely much more subdued over this period.
U.S. Home Sales Slow: Amid record home prices and rising mortgage rates, home sales activity declined for the third straight month in April. The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes fell 2.4% to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.61 million, the lowest level since June of 2020. The median sales price in the U.S. in April was $391,200, up 14.8% over the prior year and the 122nd straight month of annual increases. With slowing sales activity, housing inventory has begun to slowly increase, with unsold inventory representing 2.2 months of sales in April, up from 1.9 months in March