U.S. Stock Market

Week Ended April 1, 2011

Investors enjoyed a second week of good gains as the Dow capped off its best first-quarter performance since 1998 and reached its best level in nearly three years. Gains were particularly robust for smaller-cap stocks. Investors remained optimistic about the prospects for further merger and acquisition activity. The previous week's announced merger between AT&T and T-Mobile raised particular hopes for further consolidation in the telecommunications sector, and word arrived Wednesday of a major merger between pharmaceutical firms. The week's economic news was also generally encouraging, especially regarding the labor market. Payroll processing firm ADP boosted investor hopes by reporting on Wednesday that its tally of private employment had increased by 201,000 in February. This figure was confirmed on Friday by the Commerce Department's more definitive count of private payrolls, which showed a gain of 230,000. Government payrolls contracted by 14,000, resulting in an overall gain of 216,000. While still well below the pace of job gains during more robust recoveries, the increase was enough to bring the unemployment rate down one notch to 8.8%. Investors also seemed encouraged that the Conference Board's gauge of consumer confidence declined less than feared. Many have worried that the sharp rise in gasoline prices over the past two months might weigh on the recovery by discouraging consumers and causing them to rein in their spending on other items.

U.S. Stocks1

Index2

Friday's Close

Week's Change

% Change
Year-to-Date

DJIA

12376.72

156.13

6.90%

S&P 500

1332.41

18.61

5.95%

NASDAQ Composite

2789.60

46.54

5.15%

S&P MidCap 400

996.43

26.00

9.83%

Russell 2000

846.24

22.02

7.76%

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 4:10 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 April 1, 2011

Treasury yields moved in different directions this week amid mixed economic data. Long-term yields fell slightly while the yield on the two-year note ended higher. The Commerce Department upwardly revised its estimate of economic growth in the fourth quarter of last year to an annualized rate of 3.1% from a previous estimate of 2.8%. The labor market also took a healthier turn, with private employers adding 230,000 new jobs in March according to the Labor Department. The unemployment rate ticked down to 8.8%, continuing a gradual downward trend. Not all economic news was positive, however. The bad news on the U.S. housing market continued to mount. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Index revealed that home prices dropped in 19 major cities from December 2010 to January 2011. Home prices in 11 cities in the index are at their lowest levels since the beginning of the housing bust a few years ago, and home values in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Detroit, and Cleveland are actually lower than they were in 2000. Washington D.C. is the only city that registered a slight uptick, rising 0.1% from December into the first month of this year.

U.S. Treasury Yields1

Maturity

April 1, 2011

March 25, 2011

2-Year

0.80%

0.74%

10-Year

3.44%

3.44%

30-Year

4.49%

4.50%

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, April 1, 2011.

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International Market

Week Ended March 25, 2011

International Stocks

Foreign stock markets closed higher for the week ending March 25, 2011 with the broad international measure, the MSCI EAFE Index (Europe, Australasia, and Far East), gaining 3.45%.

 

Region/Country

Week's Return

% Change Year-to-Date

EAFE

3.45%

2.86%

Europe ex-U.K.

3.59%

7.30%

Denmark

0.20%

7.16%

France

4.23%

9.72%

Germany

4.15%

5.75%

Italy

3.58%

14.25%

Netherlands

4.03%

9.79%

Spain

3.63%

15.38%

Sweden

3.37%

3.69%

Switzerland

2.87%

1.80%

United Kingdom

2.55%

3.95%

Japan

2.92%

-4.89%

AC Far East ex-Japan

4.22%

-0.27%

Hong Kong

3.30%

-2.47%

Korea

4.59%

3.16%

Malaysia

2.05%

2.26%

Singapore

6.02%

-2.14%

Taiwan

3.07%

-5.15%

Thailand

4.25%

3.29%

EM Latin America

3.43%

-1.71%

Brazil

2.92%

-0.72%

Mexico

4.96%

-1.34%

Argentina

0.80%

-12.87%

EM (Emerging Markets)

4.17%

-0.29%

Hungary

6.74%

19.71%

India

6.19%

-8.14%

Israel

2.48%

-4.54%

Russia

3.68%

16.05%

Turkey

2.86%

-5.28%

 

International Bond Markets

International bond markets in developed countries were lower this week, with the J.P. Morgan Global Government Bond Less U.S. Index losing -0.17%.

 

Region/Country

Week's Return

% Change Year-to-Date

Developed Markets

-0.17%

2.02%

Europe

 

 

Denmark

-0.38%

3.10%

France

-0.47%

3.73%

Germany

-0.35%

3.36%

Italy

-0.34%

6.44%

Spain

0.06%

8.47%

Sweden

-0.91%

5.88%

United Kingdom

-1.24%

2.28%

Japan

0.09%

-0.47%

Emerging Markets

0.22%

0.80%

Argentina

3.68%

-1.43%

Brazil

0.04%

0.88%

Bulgaria

-0.08%

1.04%

Russia

0.12%

2.28%

 

International Currency Markets

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

 

Currency

Close
(March 25, 2011)

Week's Return
(U.S. $)

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

Japanese yen

81.130

-0.01%

0.03%

Euro

1.41441

-0.04%

-5.43%

British pound

1.60861

0.61%

-2.74%

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.