The week ahead

The S&P 500 in the US fell 2.3% last week, its worst performance in almost five months. After a stellar run that’s seen the US market rebound more than 25% from its October 2022 lows, a breather is to be expected. A slightly weaker than expected result from market heavyweight Apple and a softer jobs report that pointed to persistent inflation pressures were catalysts for the more cautious tone. There was a lot going on in the local market too, with some fresh unemployment figures coming out as well as a big downgrade in the forecast milk payout from Fonterra. Get the lowdown on what this means for the economy, the currency and the path of interest rates right here, along with a heads up of what you need to keep an eye on this week.