January 18 - 22, 2021 Recap

Inaugural Rally Best in 84 Years
Major U.S. equity indices posted solid gains last week as investors were encouraged by incoming President Biden’s issuance of 10 executive orders specifically aimed at combating COVID-19. The S&P 500 closed at a fresh record high on Wednesday as Joe Biden was sworn in as President, heralding its best first-day inauguration rally since at least 1937. Benchmark stocks pared gains on Friday however (-0.30%), amid concerns about the efficacy of existing vaccines to prevent infections from several newly emerged viral strains.

Weekly Performance
For the week, the S&P 500 advanced 1.96%, the Dow Industrials rose 0.59%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 4.19% on optimism ahead of expected strong earnings due out this week. The small cap-focused Russell 2000 also outperformed, rising 2.15% to extend early 2021 YTD gains to 9.84%.

The Weekly Recap is published by Cetera Investment Management LLC, an SEC registered adviser owned by Cetera Financial Group. Cetera Investment Management provides market perspectives, portfolio guidance, model management, and other investment advice to its affiliated broker-dealers, dually registered broker-dealers and registered investment advisers.