US stocks were flat for the week as optimism over the economy was balanced but concerns about global coronavirus infection rates. The S&P 500 was up 0.04% and the Dow fell 0.5% for the week. Abroad, the FTSE All World Ex US was down 0.4% for the week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury yield was climbed over the week to finish at 1.65%.
The EU has struggled to vaccinate its population with only 21% of its citizens receiving at least one vaccine to date, but the EU is targeting having 70% of its population vaccinated by July. India is also currently seeing a massive wave of new infections.
At the Fed’s April meeting they left their benchmark interest rate unchanged and said they plan to continue to support the economic recovery.
US GDP rose 6.4% in the first quarter bringing the economy within 1% of the level it reached prior to the pandemic.
Household income soared 21.1% in March driven by stimulus payments.
With 30% of S&P 500 companies reporting earnings to date, 88% have beaten estimates.