Daily Data Flow: U.S. Market Finishes Week Strong; Dollar Hits Five-Week Low; Consumer Sentiment Rises to Six-Year High

U.S. Market Finishes Week Strong (Bloomberg)

The S&P 500 made a comeback from early losses to finish higher on Friday, as investors await upcoming central bank meetings.  “The market has been so used to the pace of accommodation and any reduction in the accommodation could be a slight drag in the short term,” Anastasia Amoroso, a global market strategist at JPMorgan Funds, said. “The market is in the process of an adjustment to rising rates, coming to the realization that rising rates do not mean the death of equities.”

Dollar Falls to Five-Week Low on Prospective Monetary Policy (Reuters)

The dollar dipped to a five-week low against major currencies today on speculation that the Federal Reserve will emphasize next week whether it will decide to keep interest rates low. The Fed will hold its two-day monetary policy meeting next Tuesday and Wednesday; analysts said this debate on interest rates could keep the dollar on the defensive in the near term. “Folks are just treading water. They just want to see the big numbers next week to get some directional guidance,” said Samarjit Shankar, director of market strategy at BNY Mellon in Boston.

Consumer Sentiment Leaps to Six-Year High (CNBC)

Consumer sentiment jumped this month to its highest level in six years, as Americans felt better about the current economic climate. However, they still expected to see a slower rate of growth in the year ahead, according to a survey released today. The Thomson Reuters/ University of Michigan’s final reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment climbed to 85.1 from 84.1, overreaching expectations for 84 — the highest level since July 2007. “This high level of confidence points toward a continued expansion of consumer spending in the year ahead,” survey director Richard Curtin said.