Your Capital Markets Snapshot: Markets Experienced a Mix of Positive Economic Data

Last week, markets experienced a mix of positive economic data and political developments. Labor market data exceeded expectations, with significant job gains and declining unemployment rates. However, this strong economic performance led to a reassessment of the likelihood of central-bank rate cuts in 2024, as more participants are expecting a pause in cuts and expectations for only one rate cut in the back half of the year are increasing. Changes to interest rate expectations and the strong economic data led government bond yields to rise and stock markets to decline. Despite these changes, the overall economic fundamentals remain resilient, evidenced by strong job gains, decreasing unemployment, and positive economic growth.