Be skeptical of the U.S. stock market’s recent rebound – there’s more downside ahead, and plenty of evidence to back it up. The sound of alarm bells is becoming harder to ignore. With the economy slowing amid softening consumer activity, rising unemployment numbers, and spiking delinquency rates, big name stocks that have been propping up the market during latest rally are starting to lose momentum. Worse, they’re already losing billions in market capitalization, and poised for an even bigger crash by mid-May, according to several renowned market strategists. JPMorgan says this is just the start of a much deeper sell-off that will put an end to this bull run. New data shows that the perfect setup for investor panic is here, and it’s going to be ugly!
Over the past seven days, financial markets posted mixed results, especially after the Fed meeting on Wednesday. The U.S. stock market has finished the first quarter of 2024 on an astonishing tear, with the benchmark S&P 500 rising in 18 out of the 22 preceding 22 weeks. But that’s no longer the case – the index has fallen over each of the past three.
After hinting that a rate cut would be near in March, the Federal Reserve signaled last week that investors shouldn’t expect a reversal in policy any time soon, which led major indexes to report significant intraday losses.
On Tuesday, members of the central bank’s policy committee voted unanimously to keep the crucial fed funds rate in its current range of 5.25% to 5.50%. Officials held the rate at its highest since 2001 to fight inflation that’s run too high for comfort in the first few months of 2024.
“In recent months, there has been a lack of further progress toward the Committee’s 2% inflation objective,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in a new statement, adding language that was absent from the statement the group made when it previously met in March.