MARKET WATCH: APRIL 27, 2020

Stock Market Indexes

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 News

• Following a robust February, sales of existing homes fell 8.5% in March. Despite the decline, existing-home sales are still slightly (0.8%) ahead of their pace a year ago. The median existing home price was $280,600 in March ($270,100 in February), which is 8.0% higher than the price in March 2019. Inventory rose 2.7% from February, representing a 3.4-month supply at the current sales pace.

• Sales of new single-family houses in March were 15.4% below the February rate and 9.5% lower than the sales pace of March 2019. The median sales price of new houses sold in March 2020 was $321,400. The average sales price was $375,300. The estimate of new houses for sale at the end of March was 333,000, which represents a supply of 6.4 months at the current sales rate.

• New orders for manufactured durable goods decreased $36.0 billion, or 14.4%, in March. This decrease, down following three consecutive monthly increases, followed a 1.1% February increase. Excluding transportation, new orders fell 0.2%. Excluding defense, new orders dropped 15.8%. Transportation equipment, down two of the last three months, led the decrease, down $35.6 billion, or 41.0%. New orders for nondefense capital goods plunged 33.4%.

• For the week ended April 18, there were 4,427,000 claims for unemployment insurance, a decrease of 810,000 from the previous week’s level, which was revised down by 8,000. According to the Department of Labor, the advance rate for insured unemployment claims was 11.0% for the week ended April 11, an increase of 2.8 percentage points from the previous week’s rate. This marks the highest level of insured unemployment rates in the history of the series. The advance number of those receiving unemployment insurance benefits during the week ended April 11 was 15,976,000, an increase of 4,064,000 from the prior week’s level, which was revised down by 64,000. Nevertheless, this marks the highest level of insured unemployment in the history of the series.

Eye on the Week Ahead

The initial estimate of the first-quarter gross domestic product is released later this week. The fourth quarter saw the economy grow at an annualized rate of 2.1%. It will be interesting to note the impact, if any, COVID-19 has had on the overall economy. The Federal Open Market Committee also meets this week. More stimulus and responsive actions from the Committee are expected following this meeting.

Data sources: Economic: Based on data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (unemployment, inflation); U.S. Department of Commerce (GDP, corporate profits, retail sales, housing); S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Index (home prices); Institute for Supply Management (manufacturing/services). Performance: 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). 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. 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. The U.S. Dollar Index is a geometrically weighted index of the value of the U.S. dollar relative to six foreign currencies. Market indices listed are unmanaged and are not available for direct investment.