Q1 Market Recap (2024)

Happy Easter to those who celebrate, and welcome to our recap of quarter one (Q1) 2024. All three major stock indices reached all time highs this quarter: the Dow Jones gained 5.55% to reach 39,807.37, the Nasdaq rose 10.93% to close at 16,379.46, and the S&P500 increased 10.79% to 5,254.35. This article will look into the major economic events of the first quarter, performance metrics, and other essential topics.

Let’s first take a look at recent economic data releases in Q4. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data for Q4 (revision 3), was released today. The U.S. economy grew 3.4%. Check out the visual below to see GDP growth over time since Q3 2022.

Inflation continues to remain above the Fed’s goal of 2.0%. The latest report showed that inflation rose by 0.4% to 3.2% in February 2024. March 2024 data will be released on April 10, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. EST and can be found here. The current rate range remained at 5.25–5.50%. The Fed remains optimistic about rate cuts in 2024, but has yet to indicate any specifics.

The U.S. Unemployment rate increased slightly from 3.8% to 3.9% In February. The latest unemployment numbers can be found here, and you can expect updated unemployment numbers for March on April 5.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), which is the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, is set to be released for February on March 29, 2024. This article will be updated as data is available.

The first quarter saw a second spike for AI and tech stocks, as Nvidia once again stole the show, reaching a market cap of well over 2 trillion. Competitor AMD, and chip supplier TSM also had respectable gains in Q1.

Cryptocurrencies continued to rally as multiple BTC ETFs were approved. Bitcoin gained 60.59%, and Ethereum rose 51.79% in the first quarter. Ethereum (ETH) ETFs are now in focus, as multiple applications have been submitted. Approvals could come as soon as May.

As we look forward to Q2 2024, markets will focus on the following factors:

• Rate cuts may be a possibility, as Fed Chairman Jerome Powell mentioned that they are on the horizon.
• Bitcoin halving is set to occur in late April, which will reduce block rewards from 6.25 to 3.125.

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All information in this article is for educational purposes only and is not to be considered financial advice. Do your own research and consult a financial advisor for advice.

Financial data provided by Google Finance.