The S&P 500 remains on a tear, unbothered by drama surrounding the US elections: It has posted gains in nine of the last 11 weeks, Bloomberg notes, including 2% last week as a steadyslowdownin the labor market boosted expectations the US Federal Reserve could start to cut interest rates as early as September.

By the numbers: The S&P 500 was up 0.54% on Friday to close at 5,567, while the Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.90% to 18,352.76. Both indexes ended the week at record highs after labor data released on Friday showed US unemployment up slightly at 4.1% — its highest November 2021.

Cooler US jobs data could prompt the Fed to start trimming interest rates in the fall, Reuters reported. “This report puts the Fed in a comfortable spot,” said Peter Cardillo, a chief market economist at institutional brokerage firm Spartan Capital Securities. “If this continues next month, with no increases in hourly wages, then I think we'll see a rate cut in September and another one in December.”

Remember: A rate cut will almost-inevitably see investors allocate more capital to equities.

But it may be time to to moderate your expectations for US equities in the coming decade. While valuations are admittedly bad tools to use when trying to time the market, Bloomberg still notes that that the S&P 500 is trading at 26x earnings — higher than on any single election day as far back as 1990. That suggests “the elevated state of equities may be reason to lower expectations for their performance under whoever wins the election in November,” it writes.

A decade of “Meh” in the making? “Today’s lofty valuations for US megacaps suggests significant underperformance over the coming decade, and because they make up such a dominant share, returns for the overall US market are also likely to be pretty muted,” Richard Bernstein Advisors’ deputy chief investment officer, Dan Suzuki, told the business information service.

EGX30

28,365

+0.7% (YTD: +13.9%)

USD (CBE)

Buy 47.95

Sell 48.09

USD (CIB)

Buy 47.94

Sell 48.04

Interest rates (CBE)

27.25% deposit

28.25% lending

Tadawul

11,659

+0.6% (YTD: -2.6%)

ADX

9,139

+0.2% (YTD: -4.6%)

DFM

4,070

+0.1% (YTD: +0.3%)

S&P 500

5,567

+0.5% (YTD: +16.7%)

FTSE 100

8,204

-0.5% (YTD: +6.1%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,979

-0.2% (YTD: +10.1%)

Brent crude

USD 86.54

-1.0%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 2.32

-4.1%

Gold

USD 2,398

+1.2%

BTC

USD 58,107.30

+3.1% (YTD: +37.5%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 0.7% at Thursday’s close on turnover of EGP 3.3 bn (24.7% below the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is up 13.9% YTD.

In the green: ADIB (+3.6%), Juhayna (+3.2%), and Eastern Company (+3.1%).

In the red: Elsewedy Electric (-3.3%), GB Corp (-2.8%), and Oriental Weavers (-1.8%).

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