Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation continued to cool in the fourth quarter. The core CPI is now annualizing at approximately 3.0% based upon the last three months data. Importantly, the December Non-Farm Payroll report showed that wages have also come off the boil and are now annualized at just 3.7% growth.
Equity markets showed greater resilience during the fourth quarter, after an initial reaction to the September CPI report sent the major averages plummeting to new lows in mid-October. Stocks have since recovered from the decline and a broadening out of participation has become evident, with approximately 67% of S&P 500 issues now trading back above their 200 Day Moving Average (a long term moving average that helps determine the overall health of a stock).
Q4 saw some quality Robotics and Automation stocks pop:
Bioxcel (BTAI) - a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing transformative medicines in neuroscience and immuneoncology. The stock posted an 81.7% Q4 gain.
Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) - maker of the well-known DaVinci robotic surgical system. The stock advanced 41.6% during the quarter.
Infineon Technologies (IFX GR) - world leader in semiconductor solutions. The stock was up ~40%.
