The Markets (as of market close June 22, 2018)
The benchmark indexes listed here closed flat to lower last week amid fears that trade penalties will hurt domestic companies’ exports. Only the Russell 2000 closed the week ahead of its prior week’s value. The Dow was hit particularly hard as investors fled stocks of companies that could suffer due to the impending trade wars. President Trump may be targeting an additional $200 billion of Chinese imports and European-made automobiles for higher tariffs. A smaller-than-expected increase in production from OPEC sent oil prices up at the end of last week, pushing the price of some energy stocks higher.
The price of crude oil (WTI) surged last week, closing at $69.32 per barrel, up from the prior week’s closing price of $64.38 per barrel. The price of gold (COMEX) fell to $1,271.70 by early Friday evening, down from the prior week’s price of $1,282.00. The national average retail regular gasoline price fell to $2.879 per gallon on June 18, 2018, $0.032 lower than the prior week’s price but $0.561 higher than a year ago.
|
Market/Index
|
2017 Close
|
Prior Week
|
As of 6/22
|
Weekly Change
|
YTD Change
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DJIA
|
24719.22
|
25090.48
|
24580.89
|
-2.03%
|
-0.56%
|
|
Nasdaq
|
6903.39
|
7746.38
|
7692.82
|
-0.69%
|
11.44%
|
|
S&P 500
|
2673.61
|
2779.66
|
2754.88
|
-0.89%
|
3.04%
|
|
Russell 2000
|
1535.51
|
1683.91
|
1685.58
|
0.10%
|
9.77%
|
|
Global Dow
|
3085.41
|
3044.16
|
3007.73
|
-1.20%
|
-2.52%
|
|
Fed. Funds target rate
|
1.25%-1.50%
|
1.75%-2.00%
|
1.75%-2.00%
|
0 bps
|
50 bps
|
|
10-year Treasuries
|
2.41%
|
2.92%
|
2.89%
|
-3 bps
|
48 bps
|
Chart reflects price changes, not total return. Because it does not include dividends or splits, it should not be used to benchmark performance of specific investments.
Last Week’s Economic Headlines
- The May report on new residential construction was a mixed bag of good and not-so-good news. On the plus side, housing starts (5.0%) and housing completions (1.9%) each expanded over their April totals. That should get more homes on the market, which should increase inventory. On the other hand, building permits were down 4.6% in May from the prior month, which doesn’t necessarily bode well for future construction.
- Existing home sales, which had been a strong segment of the housing sector earlier in the year, have fallen back for the second consecutive month. May’s sales of existing homes decreased 0.4% from April’s totals, and are now 3.0% lower than a year ago. The median existing-home price for all housing types in May was $264,800, an all-time high and up 4.9% from May 2017 ($252,500). May’s price increase marks the 75th straight month of year-over-year gains. Inventory of existing homes for sale rose 2.8% in May, yielding a 4.1-month supply at the current sales pace. While inventory is expanding somewhat, it’s still well below (6.1%) the number of homes available for sale this time last year.
- In the week ended June 16, there were 218,000 initial claims for unemployment insurance, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week’s level, which was revised up by 3,000. The advance insured unemployment rate remained at 1.2%. The advance number of those receiving unemployment insurance benefits during the week ended June 9 was 1,723,000, an increase of 22,000 from the prior week’s level, which was revised up by 4,000.
Eye on the Week Ahead
The last week of June brings with it some notable economic reports, led by the final estimate of the first-quarter gross domestic product. The report on personal income will show whether wage inflation is mirroring consumer price increases.
Data sources: News items are based on reports from multiple commonly available international news sources (i.e. wire services) and are independently verified when necessary with secondary sources such as government agencies, corporate press releases, or trade organizations. Market data: Based on data reported in WSJ Market Data Center (indexes); U.S. Treasury (Treasury yields); U.S. Energy Information Administration/Bloomberg.com Market Data (oil spot price, WTI Cushing, OK); www.goldprice.org (spot gold/silver); Oanda/FX Street (currency exchange rates). All information is based on sources deemed reliable, but no warranty or guarantee is made as to its accuracy or completeness. Neither the information nor any opinion expressed herein constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any securities, and should not be relied on as financial advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. All investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal, and there can be no guarantee that any investing strategy will be successful.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is a price-weighted index composed of 30 widely traded blue-chip U.S. common stocks. The S&P 500 is a market-cap weighted index composed of the common stocks of 500 leading companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy. The NASDAQ Composite Index is a market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The Russell 2000 is a market-cap weighted index composed of 2,000 U.S. small-cap common stocks. The Global Dow is an equally weighted index of 150 widely traded blue-chip common stocks worldwide. Market indices listed are unmanaged and are not available for direct investment.