U.S. Stock Market

Week Ended January 20, 2012

Stocks rose for the week and reached toward levels last seen in the summer as investors continued to take encouragement from economic data and proved generally satisfied with early fourth-quarter earnings reports. On Tuesday, the first day of trading after the holiday weekend, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that its regional manufacturing index had reached its best level in nine months. Data released later in the week generally confirmed a nationwide pickup in factory activity. A rise in a gauge of homebuilder confidence, together with a good pace of existing home sales in December, helped brighten the outlook for the housing sector. On Thursday, the Labor Department reported that weekly jobless claims had plunged by 50,000 to 352,000, near a four-year low. Overseas economic developments were also generally supportive, even as the World Bank lowered its global growth forecast for the coming year. Greece appeared to be making progress in reaching a deal with creditors to lower the face value of its debt by half a "haircut" that many view as necessary for Greece to avoid default on its sovereign debt. The International Monetary Fund also announced plans to bolster its lending resources by $500 billion. Earnings reports were mixed during the week. In the financials sector, disappointing earnings from Citigroup appeared to confirm weakness among banks, but better-than-expected results from other financial giants later in the week eased concerns. Similarly, in the technology sector, robust but below-expectations earnings from Google appeared to be offset by a strong outlook from IBM.

U.S. Stocks1

Index2

Friday's Close

Week's Change

% Change
Year-to-Date

DJIA

12720.48

298.42

4.12%

S&P 500

1315.38

26.29

4.59%

NASDAQ Composite

2786.70

76.03

6.97%

S&P MidCap 400

930.64

24.04

5.82%

Russell 2000

784.70

20.49

5.93%

This chart is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent the performance of any specific security. Past performance cannot guarantee future results.

1Source of data Reuters, obtained through Yahoo! Finance Closing data as of 4 p.m. ET.

2The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Index of blue chip stocks, the Standard & Poor's MidCap 400 Index, and the Russell 2000 Index are unmanaged indexes representing various segments by market capitalization of the U.S. equity markets. The Nasdaq Composite is an unmanaged index representing the companies traded on the Nasdaq stock market and the National Market System.

 

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U.S. Bond Market

Week Ended January 20, 2012

December housing starts fell 4.1% from November into December, but the numbers are somewhat deceiving. The weakness occurred primarily in the volatile multifamily sector, which should begin to expand as rental vacancies decline. A more telling figure for housing overall is single-family housing starts, which rose 4.4%, indicating that a gradual recovery in this area is under way. Single-family housing construction has been increasing since fall 2011 and, if the trend continues, could contribute 0.3 percentage points to real gross domestic product growth in 2012, according to T. Rowe Price estimates. In the labor market, initial jobless claims declined by 50,000 to 352,000 during the week ended January 14. Other data released during the week show that consumer core inflation remains moderate, which allows the Fed to continue its low interest rate policy in its effort to foster economic growth. Treasury yields rose during the week, against the backdrop of slow but steady progress on the economy.

U.S. Treasury Yields1

Maturity

January 20, 2012

January 13, 2012

2-Year

0.24%

0.22%

10-Year

2.03%

1.87%

30-Year

3.10%

2.91%

This table is for illustrative purposes only. Past performance cannot guarantee future results.

1Source of data: Bloomberg.com, as of 4 p.m. ET Friday, January 20, 2012.

 

 

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International Market

Week Ended January 13, 2012

International Stocks

Foreign stock markets closed higher for the week ending January 13, 2012 with the broad international measure, the MSCI EAFE Index (Europe, Australasia, and Far East), gaining 0.62%.

 

Region/Country

Week's Return

% Change Year-to-Date

EAFE

0.62%

0.21%

Europe ex-U.K.

0.81%

-0.84%

Denmark

-0.41%

-0.32%

France

1.55%

-1.25%

Germany

1.17%

1.89%

Italy

1.84%

-2.63%

Netherlands

-0.22%

-3.54%

Spain

2.23%

-3.35%

Sweden

-0.16%

0.26%

Switzerland

0.03%

-1.09%

United Kingdom

-1.08%

-0.55%

Japan

0.84%

0.70%

AC Far East ex-Japan

3.05%

3.63%

Hong Kong

2.13%

2.49%

Korea

2.99%

2.94%

Malaysia

1.25%

1.38%

Singapore

3.55%

6.11%

Taiwan

2.21%

3.28%

Thailand

0.45%

0.04%

EM Latin America

2.79%

5.29%

Brazil

3.89%

7.04%

Mexico

-0.09%

0.52%

Argentina

0.85%

11.76%

EM (Emerging Markets)

2.80%

4.03%

Hungary

9.99%

1.76%

India

4.71%

8.43%

Israel

1.04%

6.94%

Russia

1.88%

5.62%

Turkey

4.08%

2.64%

 

International Bond Markets

International bond markets in developed countries were higher this week, with the J.P. Morgan Global Government Bond Less U.S. Index gaining 0.58%.

 

Region/Country

Week's Return

% Change Year-to-Date

Developed Markets

0.58%

-0.94%

Europe

 

 

Denmark

-0.20%

-2.75%

France

1.59%

-2.83%

Germany

0.23%

-1.98%

Italy

1.74%

-1.11%

Spain

2.19%

-2.61%

Sweden

-0.25%

-2.01%

United Kingdom

-0.24%

-1.54%

Japan

0.29%

0.06%

Emerging Markets

-0.41%

-0.80%

Argentina

0.25%

3.55%

Brazil

-0.68%

-0.97%

Bulgaria

0.15%

0.27%

Russia

0.54%

0.77%

 

International Currency Markets

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar was stronger against the major currencies for the week.

 

Currency

Close
(January 13, 2012)

Week's Return
(U.S. $)

% Change
Year-to-Date (U.S. $)

Japanese yen

76.980

-0.18%

0.05%

Euro

1.26671

0.37%

2.43%

British pound

1.52851

0.80%

1.65%

1U.S. dollars per national currency unit.

Sources: Foreign stock markets and currency sections are from Rimes Technologies, using MSCI data. International bond markets are from J.P. Morgan.

Note: All returns are in U.S. dollars. All bond indices are J.P. Morgan. All stock indices are Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI).

Equity Indices

EAFE:

MSCI Europe, Australasia, and Far East Index

Europe Ex-U.K.:

MSCI Europe ex-U.K. Index

Far East Ex-Japan:

MSCI AC Far East ex-Japan Index

Latin America:

MSCI Emerging Markets Latin America Index

Emerging Markets:

MSCI Emerging Markets Index

 

Bond Indices

Developed Markets:

J.P. Morgan Global Government Bond Less U.S. Index

Emerging Markets:

J.P. Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index Plus


All charts are for illustrative purposes only and do not represent the performance of any specific security. Past performance cannot guarantee future results.