U.S.
Stock Market
Week Ended May 20, 2011
Stocks
moved lower for the week. The week began on a down note, as investors reacted
to worrisome economic developments in both the U.S. and abroad. Two regional
manufacturing gauges and a Federal Reserve report on industrial production
indicated that factory output was growing more slowly than it had in recent
months, but housing data were particularly discouraging. On Monday, the
National Association of Homebuilders reported that a gauge of sentiment among
its members remained at a very depressed level, and the Commerce Department
reported on Tuesday that housing starts had defied expectations for a gain in
April and instead declined by 10.6%. Investors' concerns about the European
debt crisis also deepened following the arrest in New York over the weekend of
the head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The IMF
leader had been an important advocate for providing debt relief for troubled
European economies, and some worried that his resignation—announced
Wednesday—would imperil further bailout measures
for Greece, in particular. Stocks recovered somewhat on Wednesday, thanks in
part to the release of minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting, which
appeared to indicate that the central bank would move slowly in tightening
monetary policy. On Thursday, investors were encouraged by a substantial
decline in weekly jobless claims as well as the favorable reception given to
the initial public offering of online networking site LinkedIn. Continued
worries about the European banking system caused the U.S. dollar to rise and
stocks to fall back once more to end the week.
|
U.S. Stocks1 |
|||
|
Index2 |
Friday's Close |
Week's Change |
% Change |
|
DJIA |
12512.04 |
-83.71 |
8.07% |
|
S&P 500 |
1333.27 |
-4.50 |
6.01% |
|
NASDAQ Composite |
2803.32 |
-25.15 |
5.67% |
|
S&P MidCap 400 |
986.83 |
-7.09 |
8.77% |
|
Russell 2000 |
829.24 |
-6.68 |
5.60% |
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.
____________
Week
Ended May 20, 2011
Despite
better economic news, the housing market just can't seem to pull out of its
slump. New construction of houses and apartments declined 10.6% in April from
the previous month and are down 23.9% from April 2010. Foreclosures continue to
put pressure on prices, and builders are having difficulty lining up financing
in a vicious cycle that seems to be feeding on itself. Elsewhere, the news is
better. Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell unexpectedly during the
week ended May 14, although recent flooding along the Mississippi river could
boost claims in the weeks ahead. In addition, manufacturing in the Philadelphia
region grew slightly in May, and employment conditions in the sector improved.
Also, anticipated capital expenditures by corporations have been rising, and
companies expressed optimism that sales growth in coming months is looking up.
Treasury yields slipped a bit during the week, closing slightly below their
levels of the week before.
|
U.S. Treasury Yields1 |
||
|
Maturity |
May 20, 2011 |
May 13, 2011 |
|
2-Year |
0.51% |
0.54% |
|
10-Year |
3.15% |
3.18% |
|
30-Year |
4.30% |
4.32% |
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, May 20,
2011.
___________
International Stocks
Foreign stock markets closed lower for
the week ending May 13, 2011 with the broad international measure, the MSCI
EAFE Index (Europe, Australasia, and Far East), losing -1.96%.
|
|
||
|
Region/Country |
Week's Return |
% Change Year-to-Date |
|
EAFE |
-1.96% |
5.41% |
|
Europe ex-U.K. |
-2.35% |
11.55% |
|
Denmark |
-0.98% |
8.63% |
|
France |
-2.64% |
12.91% |
|
Germany |
-3.18% |
13.00% |
|
Italy |
-2.85% |
14.68% |
|
Netherlands |
-2.51% |
9.94% |
|
Spain |
-4.55% |
13.40% |
|
Sweden |
-1.26% |
10.74% |
|
Switzerland |
-1.03% |
10.17% |
|
United Kingdom |
-1.90% |
5.79% |
|
Japan |
-1.93% |
-5.31% |
|
AC Far East ex-Japan |
0.35% |
4.38% |
|
Hong Kong |
1.05% |
1.70% |
|
Korea |
-1.49% |
9.12% |
|
Malaysia |
1.61% |
5.07% |
|
Singapore |
1.37% |
2.75% |
|
Taiwan |
0.21% |
1.85% |
|
Thailand |
3.68% |
8.37% |
|
EM Latin America |
-3.02% |
-5.44% |
|
Brazil |
-4.09% |
-6.05% |
|
Mexico |
-1.20% |
-4.31% |
|
Argentina |
2.29% |
-12.92% |
|
EM (Emerging Markets) |
-1.46% |
0.36% |
|
Hungary |
-5.26% |
22.52% |
|
India |
-0.16% |
-10.32% |
|
Israel |
1.51% |
-6.13% |
|
Russia |
-3.59% |
6.70% |
|
Turkey |
-8.70% |
-6.82% |
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 -0.77%.
|
|
||
|
Region/Country |
Week's Return |
% Change Year-to-Date |
|
Developed Markets |
-0.77% |
3.63% |
|
Europe |
|
|
|
Denmark |
-1.48% |
5.13% |
|
France |
-1.53% |
5.49% |
|
Germany |
-1.47% |
5.14% |
|
Italy |
-1.68% |
8.17% |
|
Spain |
-2.02% |
8.87% |
|
Sweden |
-1.61% |
8.26% |
|
United Kingdom |
-1.16% |
5.14% |
|
Japan |
0.08% |
0.82% |
|
Emerging Markets |
0.31% |
3.08% |
|
Argentina |
0.12% |
-1.77% |
|
Brazil |
0.22% |
3.70% |
|
Bulgaria |
0.13% |
2.72% |
|
Russia |
0.38% |
3.65% |
International Currency Markets
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar
was stronger against the major currencies for the week.
|
|
|||
|
Currency |
Close |
Week's Return |
% Change |
|
Japanese yen |
80.760 |
0.18% |
-0.43% |
|
Euro |
1.42051 |
2.08% |
-5.88% |
|
British pound |
1.62081 |
1.31% |
-3.52% |
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.