Financial News and Portfolio Management Discussion through June 4th

US stocks ended the week lower as a strong May jobs report may indicate the Fed will continue its aggressive path to get inflation under control. The S&P 500 declined by 1.2% for the week and the Dow ended the week 0.9% lower. Foreign markets posted another positive week with the FTSE All World Ex US up 0.4% for the week. US crude gained for the week ending at $120.27 per barrel up from $115.07 the week prior. The yield on the 10-year Treasury increased to 2.94% up from 2.74% the week prior.

US employers added 390k jobs in May, beating the 325k economist had forecasted but fell short of the 436k added in April suggesting US job growth may be cooling. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.6%, remaining near historic low levels. Wage growth slowed slightly, increasing 0.3%, below forecasts for a 0.4% gain.

Fed officials said they would support raising rates in half-percentage- point increments for the next two meetings and batted down speculation that they would pause after that.

The national average price for gas in the US hit $4.67 to start June, up $1.63 from a year earlier.

Inflation in the eurozone reached an annual 8.1% in May marking a sharp acceleration from the 7.4% rate of inflation recorded in April and March. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and sanctions placed on Russia have been the main drivers of price increases.

The Bank of Canada raised its benchmark interest rate by a half-percentage point and signaled it is prepared to consider bigger rises if necessary to combat high inflation.

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