S&P 500 Logs 4th Straight Weekly Gain Following Encouraging Inflation Data

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY traded higher for the fourth consecutive week as investors got some more good news on the inflation front.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Labor Department reported the consumer price index gained 8.5% in July, below economist estimates of 8.7% and down from peak 2022 levels of 9.1% in June. June's CPI growth was the highest inflation reading since November 1981.

On Friday, the House was poised to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, a $480-billion legislative package that includes funding for climate change initiatives. The bill also includes provisions to shore up the Affordable Care Act, reduce prescription drug prices and impose a new excise tax on stock buybacks.

On Tuesday, Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk disclosed that he sold another 7.92 million shares of Tesla stock worth about $6.88 billion between Aug. 5 and 9. In April, Musk sold about 9.6 million Tesla shares worth about $8.5 billion and said he had no plans to sell additional stock.

On Friday, the University of Michigan reported its consumer sentiment index was up 7% on a monthly basis to 55.1 in August, beating consensus economist estimates of 52.5. The index remains down 21% from a year ago.

Related Link: 11 Best Online Savings Accounts with High Yield in 2022

Disney Magic: Walt Disney Co DIS shares traded higher on Thursday after the media and entertainment giant reported Disney+ streaming subscriber growth in the second quarter that far exceeded Wall Street's expectations.

Investors will get more quarterly earnings reports from Walmart Inc WMT on Tuesday, Cisco Systems Inc CSCO and TJX Companies Inc TJX on Wednesday and Applied Materials, Inc. AMAT on Thursday.

S&P 500 companies reporting earnings misses so far in the second quarter have averaged no stock price change from two days before their earnings reports through two days after the releases, according to FactSet.

Economic Numbers: In the week ahead, investors will get key economic updates on Wednesday when the U.S. Census Bureau releases its July Retail Sales report and the Federal Reserve releases its latest meeting minutes.

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