SUMMARY:
Equities finished higher on the week, led by the Nasdaq (+1.86% WTD) and S&P 500 (+1.42% WTD), while the Dow added +0.69%. Rates moved modestly higher, with the 10-year Treasury yield ending at 4.37% (+5 bps WTD). Economic data remained mixed but generally resilient, with firm inflation prints (PCE +3.5% YoY; Core PCE +3.2% YoY), Q1 GDP tracking +2.0%, and housing signals diverging as housing starts jumped +10.0% while building permits fell -10.8%. The Fed held policy steady for the 3rd consecutive meeting amid elevated uncertainty tied to the Middle East and rising energy prices, while mega-cap earnings were mixed—strength from Google and Amazon contrasted with capex-driven weakness in Meta and Microsoft. In broader markets, safe havens weakened (gold -1.6%, silver -2.4%) alongside softer bitcoin (-1.4%) and a weaker dollar (-0.70%), while WTI crude oil surged +10% on renewed geopolitical supply concerns.