When we left you on Thursday, US markets were mixed following a disappointing jobs report and concerns about the AI data center buildout. The S&P 500 ended the session down 0.6% but closed the week up just over 1%. Semis, memory and other AI adjacent stocks sold off sharply. Defensive/yield-oriented sectors outperformed.

Today we came back to work and the new Trump Accounts- tax-advantaged investment vehicles for children- officially launched. To celebrate the occasion President Trump rang the Opening Bell remotely from the Oval Office. The S&P 500 opened up 0.3% and climbed from there, currently near session highs of ~0.8%. The equal-weight is flat however with 5/11 sectors lower. Small caps are doing better than the equal-weight but slightly lagging the market-weight index.

The tech-heavy sectors, Info Tech, Comm Services and Consumer Discretionary, are leading. Outside of Meta and Alphabet, most of the rest of Comm Services is modestly lower. The autos are also an island of green strength in an otherwise red tape for Discretionary (and AMZN is modestly higher as well). Auto parts retailers are lower after last week’s late news that Genuine Auto Parts received interest from O’Reilly for its NAPA auto unit, valuing the segment around $10B. Thursday’s winners are leading lower to start this week. Staples, Healthcare, Materials, Real Estate and Utilities are all down about 1% today.