New tariffs announced by President Trump yesterday evening have hit stocks hard, with overseas markets off in the 2-3% range and the S&P 500 down more than 3% at the open.

New tariffs announced by President Trump yesterday evening have hit stocks hard, with overseas markets off in the 2-3% range and the S&P 500 down more than 3% at the open.

Financial markets were choppy in the first quarter, with stocks showing significant weakness in the second half.  The S&P 500 ETF declined by 4.3%, on a par with the weak start to 2022. 

After hitting an all-time high on February 19th, the S&P 500 index has slid more than 8%, and almost 6% just in March, leaving it down about 5% this year. The technology-heavy NASDAQ index has fallen more sharply and now is off about 10% year-to-date.

Following earlier-year gains, stock and bond markets both encountered more challenging conditions as 2024 drew to a close.  Thayer client portfolios performed solidly over the year, with robust stock gains, resilient bond returns and a helpful contribution from income strategies.

Donald Trump’s dominant win and return to power, and possible Republican sweep of Congress, are creating notable reverberations in financial markets.

Financial markets enjoyed a robust quarter, across and within asset classes. For the first time in 2024 both bonds and stocks rose solidly, as the inflation headwind finally stood down, leading the way to an aggressive first rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September.

A sharp sell-off in stocks is in its third day today, in a remarkable about-face from a strong rally during and after a fairly low-key and market-friendly Federal Reserve meeting just last Wednesday.

Both stocks and bonds recovered from April losses, a month that featured an inflation reality check, and posted positive returns for the second quarter as the inflation data and investor attitudes improved.

With healthy economic conditions persisting, and recession worries pushed farther out on the horizon, stocks carried their late 2023 strength through 2024’s first quarter, leading to their best start since 2019. This benefited Thayer client portfolios, which began the year fully weighted to equities.