Week
Ended January 27, 2012
Stocks
ended the week mixed after somewhat disappointing economic data deflated
enthusiasm over some prominent fourth-quarter earnings reports. Smaller-cap
shares and the technology-oriented Nasdaq performed somewhat better and
recorded decent gains. Stocks recorded their best day of the week on Wednesday,
following the previous evening's news that technology giant Apple had enjoyed
stronger-than-expected earnings in the fourth quarter. A rise in Apple stock
lifted its market capitalization above that of ExxonMobil, helping make it the
most highly valued U.S. company—a position it briefly held last summer.
Stocks received a further boost Wednesday afternoon, after the Federal Reserve
announced that it anticipated keeping official short-term interest rates near
0% through at least 2014. Some worried that the Fed's action signaled a bleak
view on the nation's economic prospects, a concern that found some backing in
the week's economic data. Stocks fell on Thursday after the Commerce Department
reported that new home sales had declined by 2.2% in December, capping off the
worst year of sales in records dating back nearly six decades. On Friday, the
department announced its advance estimate that the economy had grown at annual
rate of 2.8% in the final quarter of 2011. Although this would be the fastest
rate of growth since the second quarter of 2010, investors appeared to react
negatively to the report, which did not match the expectations of many
economists. Renewed problems in hammering out a deal between Greece and its
creditors may also have weighed on markets during the week. On Friday, however,
The Wall Street Journal reported that progress was being made on the
deal, which is a precondition for Greece's receiving its next round of
bailout assistance.
|
U.S. Stocks1 |
|||
|
Index2 |
Friday's Close |
Week's Change |
% Change |
|
DJIA |
12660.46 |
-60.02 |
3.63% |
|
S&P 500 |
1316.32 |
0.94 |
4.67% |
|
NASDAQ Composite |
2816.55 |
29.85 |
8.11% |
|
S&P MidCap 400 |
942.54 |
11.90 |
7.17% |
|
Russell 2000 |
798.28 |
13.58 |
7.77% |
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.
___________
U.S. Bond Market
Week Ended January 27, 2012
The
U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.8% in the fourth quarter of 2011,
according to the Commerce Department, up from 1.8% in the third quarter. It was
the fastest pace since the second quarter of 2010, although slightly slower
than most economists had expected. The economy received a boost from the
rebuilding of business inventories, without which the rate of growth would have
been less than 1% since consumer spending and business spending on capital
goods were weak. Underscoring concerns about the still-struggling recovery,
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced that short-term interest rates
would remain low through late 2014. He warned that the economy still faced
stiff challenges, including a recession in Europe that could spill over into
the U.S., and he suggested that the Fed was considering additional stimulus
measures to speed up the recovery. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also
weighed in, telling the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that
"We're still repairing the damage done by the financial crisis."
Treasury yields fell across all maturities on the news.
|
U.S. Treasury Yields1 |
||
|
Maturity |
January 27, 2012 |
January 20, 2012 |
|
2-Year |
0.21% |
0.24% |
|
10-Year |
1.89% |
2.03% |
|
30-Year |
3.06% |
3.10% |
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
27, 2012.
___________
International Stocks
Foreign stock markets closed higher for
the week ending January 20, 2012 with the broad international measure, the MSCI
EAFE Index (Europe, Australasia, and Far East), gaining 4.04%.
|
|
||
|
Region/Country |
Week's Return |
% Change Year-to-Date |
|
EAFE |
4.04% |
4.26% |
|
Europe ex-U.K. |
5.44% |
4.56% |
|
Denmark |
2.80% |
2.47% |
|
France |
6.03% |
4.71% |
|
Germany |
6.30% |
8.32% |
|
Italy |
6.33% |
3.53% |
|
Netherlands |
6.06% |
2.30% |
|
Spain |
3.85% |
0.37% |
|
Sweden |
5.73% |
6.00% |
|
Switzerland |
4.49% |
3.35% |
|
United Kingdom |
3.27% |
2.70% |
|
Japan |
2.79% |
3.51% |
|
AC Far East ex-Japan |
3.78% |
7.54% |
|
Hong Kong |
5.38% |
8.01% |
|
Korea |
6.16% |
9.29% |
|
Malaysia |
0.72% |
2.11% |
|
Singapore |
3.35% |
9.67% |
|
Taiwan |
0.33% |
3.62% |
|
Thailand |
3.16% |
3.20% |
|
EM Latin America |
5.42% |
10.99% |
|
Brazil |
6.14% |
13.61% |
|
Mexico |
5.13% |
5.68% |
|
Argentina |
7.76% |
20.43% |
|
EM (Emerging Markets) |
4.44% |
8.65% |
|
Hungary |
13.93% |
15.93% |
|
India |
6.22% |
15.18% |
|
Israel |
2.94% |
10.09% |
|
Russia |
3.56% |
9.38% |
|
Turkey |
7.53% |
10.37% |
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 0.7%.
|
|
||
|
Region/Country |
Week's Return |
% Change Year-to-Date |
|
Developed Markets |
0.70% |
-0.25% |
|
Europe |
|
|
|
Denmark |
0.59% |
-2.17% |
|
France |
1.91% |
-0.97% |
|
Germany |
0.94% |
-1.06% |
|
Italy |
3.82% |
2.66% |
|
Spain |
1.97% |
-0.69% |
|
Sweden |
2.04% |
-0.01% |
|
United Kingdom |
0.60% |
-0.94% |
|
Japan |
-0.31% |
-0.25% |
|
Emerging Markets |
1.01% |
0.20% |
|
Argentina |
4.94% |
8.66% |
|
Brazil |
0.84% |
-0.14% |
|
Bulgaria |
0.35% |
0.61% |
|
Russia |
0.51% |
1.29% |
International Currency Markets
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar
was weaker against the major currencies for the week.
|
|
|||
|
Currency |
Close |
Week's Return |
% Change |
|
Japanese yen |
77.120 |
0.18% |
0.23% |
|
Euro |
1.2921 |
-2.00% |
0.48% |
|
British pound |
1.55271 |
-1.58% |
0.09% |
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.