Inflation Cools • Stocks Rally • Healthcare In Focus

January 9, 2023 | Hoya Capital

Inflation Cools • Stocks Rally • Healthcare In Focus Daily Recap Mar 31 Written By Alex Pettee, CFA U.S. equity markets rallied Friday while benchmark interest rates retreated after the PCE Index - the Fed's preferred gauge of inflation - showed that price pressures cooled more significantly than expected in February. Posting a third-straight week of gains, S&P 500 gained 1.4% today- and nearly 3.5% for the week- while the Mid-Cap 400 and Small-Cap 600 pushed their weekly-gains to over 4%.

Real estate equities were among the leaders again today - the sector with perhaps the most upside from easing inflationary and interest rate pressures. Equity REITs rallied 5.5% this week. Senior Housing-focused REIT Ventas (VTR) dipped about 2% after it announced that it will take ownership of the collateral supporting its $486M mezzanine loan to Santerre Health Investors, which has struggled to make interest payments over the past several quarters.

Medical Properties Trust (MPW) advanced about 2% today after it announced that it had filed a lawsuit in federal court against Viceroy Research LLC, a short-selling firm that has "repeatedly published baseless allegations to drive down the Company’s stock price. Income Builder Daily Recap U.S. equity markets rallied Friday while benchmark interest rates retreated after the PCE Index - the Fed's preferred gauge of inflation - showed that price pressures cooled more significantly than expected in February.

Posting a third-straight week of gains, S&P 500 finished higher by 1.4% today - and nearly 3.5% for the week - while the Mid-Cap 400 and Small-Cap 600 pushed their weekly gains to over 4%. Real estate equities were among the leaders again today - the sector with perhaps the most upside from easing inflationary and interest rate pressures. The Equity REIT Index rallied 2.1% today - pushing its weekly gains to around 5.5% - while the Mortgage REIT Index advanced 2.5% today and nearly 6% for the week.

Homebuilders advanced more ...