S&P 500 Makes Weekly Gains As Inflation Eases: What's Next For The Market?

The strong start to 2023 for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY continued this week as another key indicator suggested inflation continues to trend steadily lower.

On Friday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported the personal consumption expenditures price index gained 5% in December, down from a 5.5% increase in November and below economist estimates of a 5.5% gain. Core PCE inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was 4.4% in December, in line with economist estimates.

On Thursday, the Commerce Department reported U.S. GDP grew 2.9% in the fourth quarter, exceeding economist estimates of a 2.6% gain. Consumer spending in the fourth quarter was up just 2.1%, down from a 2.3% increase in the third quarter of 2022.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Justice Department filed its second antitrust lawsuit against Alphabet, Inc. GOOG GOOGL subsidiary Google in roughly two years. The Justice Department is seeking to break up Google's online advertising business, which includes its popular YouTube streaming video platform.

Related Link: What's Going On With Google Parent Alphabet Stock Today?

After previous investments in 2019 and 2021, Microsoft Corp MSFT is reportedly investing another $10 billion in OpenAI, the artificial intelligence startup that created popular AI tool ChatGPT.

Buzzfeed Inc BZFD shares jumped 150% on Thursday after the company announced a partnership with OpenAI to create AI-generated content.

In The Driver's Seat: Shares of popular electric vehicle stock Tesla Inc TSLA gained more than 32% this week after the company reported an earnings beat and record revenue in the fourth quarter.

In the week ahead, investors will get more quarterly reports from Exxon Mobil Corp XOM on Tuesday and Alphabet, Amazon.com, Inc AMZN and Apple, Inc. AAPL on Thursday.

S&P 500 profit margins are on track to decline for the sixth consecutive quarter, according to FactSet.

Economic Numbers: Investors will get key economic updates on Wednesday when the Federal Reserve releases its latest interest rate decision and accompanying commentary and on Friday when the U.S. Labor Department releases its January jobs report.

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