Week
Ended June 17, 2011
Stocks
moved modestly higher for the week, breaking the longest string of weekly
losses for the large-cap indexes in nearly a decade. The technology-oriented
Nasdaq defied the general pattern and moved lower. Tuesday brought a sharp
relief rally, as investors took comfort in a smaller-than-feared drop in May
retail sales. The decline was driven largely by a sharp drop in auto sales tied
in part to disruption in Japanese production following the March earthquake.
Investors were also encouraged by a rise in Chinese industrial production that
modestly exceeded expectations. Selling returned with a vengeance on Wednesday,
however. Social unrest in Greece raised new concerns on whether the country
would be able to follow through on austerity programs required as part of its
bailout package. Investors also worried about the Empire State Manufacturing
Survey, which indicated a sharp and surprising drop in industrial activity in
the New York region. Reports on Thursday that weekly jobless claims had
declined a bit while housing construction had increased in May helped calm
return to the markets, even though a mid-Atlantic manufacturing survey seemed
to confirm a slowdown in the sector. News on Friday of progress in addressing
the Greek debt situation appeared to provide a brief boost to the markets on
Friday, but optimism dwindled as reports surfaced suggesting Italy's debt
situation might be worsening. The week's gains may have been supported by
continued merger and acquisition activity and a prominent initial public offering
by an Internet firm.
|
U.S. Stocks1 |
|||
|
Index2 |
Friday's Close |
Week's Change |
% Change |
|
DJIA |
12004.28 |
52.37 |
3.69% |
|
S&P 500 |
1271.50 |
0.52 |
1.10% |
|
NASDAQ Composite |
2616.48 |
-27.25 |
-1.37% |
|
S&P MidCap 400 |
932.75 |
0.81 |
2.81% |
|
Russell 2000 |
781.88 |
2.88 |
-0.43% |
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 June 17, 2011
Greece's
sovereign debt crisis grew worse during the week, leading to volatility in the
financial markets and a flight from the euro into the U.S. dollar. Moody's
Investors Service warned that Greece's debt problems could affect several
financial institutions, including some French banks because of their exposure
to Greek bonds. The crisis threatened to worsen as the week unfolded. U.S.
economic news was also less than sanguine. Retail sales fell in May for the
first time in 11 months, partly due to weakening automobile sales. At the same
time, consumer prices registered their largest gain in five months in May,
putting overall prices 3.6% above their level of a year ago. The Federal
Reserve hopes to contain inflation at about 2% a year, so the latest figures
are trending well above the Fed's comfort level. Most Treasury yields inched a
bit lower because of the sluggish economic data, with the 10-year note falling
further below the 3% mark.
|
U.S. Treasury Yields1 |
||
|
Maturity |
June 17, 2011 |
June 10, 2011 |
|
2-Year |
0.37% |
0.40% |
|
10-Year |
2.93% |
2.97% |
|
30-Year |
4.19% |
4.18% |
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, June 17,
2011.
___________
International Stocks
Foreign stock markets closed lower for
the week ending June 10, 2011 with the broad international measure, the MSCI
EAFE Index (Europe, Australasia, and Far East), losing -2.42%.
|
|
||
|
Region/Country |
Week's Return |
% Change Year-to-Date |
|
EAFE |
-2.42% |
2.48% |
|
Europe ex-U.K. |
-3.78% |
8.07% |
|
Denmark |
-4.66% |
3.79% |
|
France |
-3.27% |
10.29% |
|
Germany |
-2.06% |
9.28% |
|
Italy |
-4.45% |
9.68% |
|
Netherlands |
-4.10% |
3.57% |
|
Spain |
-4.78% |
10.36% |
|
Sweden |
-6.48% |
3.77% |
|
Switzerland |
-4.04% |
9.52% |
|
United Kingdom |
-2.35% |
3.47% |
|
Japan |
0.38% |
-7.47% |
|
AC Far East ex-Japan |
-2.89% |
1.04% |
|
Hong Kong |
-2.31% |
-1.62% |
|
Korea |
-3.70% |
4.86% |
|
Malaysia |
-0.30% |
6.05% |
|
Singapore |
-2.76% |
-0.18% |
|
Taiwan |
-2.94% |
-0.75% |
|
Thailand |
-4.02% |
-0.07% |
|
EM Latin America |
-2.98% |
-4.78% |
|
Brazil |
-3.28% |
-4.54% |
|
Mexico |
-2.12% |
-5.94% |
|
Argentina |
-0.64% |
-15.75% |
|
EM (Emerging Markets) |
-2.23% |
-0.71% |
|
Hungary |
-2.67% |
22.35% |
|
India |
-0.12% |
-10.63% |
|
Israel |
-2.61% |
-7.02% |
|
Russia |
3.21% |
11.20% |
|
Turkey |
1.45% |
-5.77% |
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 -0.55%.
|
|
||
|
Region/Country |
Week's Return |
% Change Year-to-Date |
|
Developed Markets |
-0.55% |
4.80% |
|
Europe |
|
|
|
Denmark |
-1.20% |
7.53% |
|
France |
-1.07% |
7.70% |
|
Germany |
-0.84% |
7.42% |
|
Italy |
-2.36% |
9.11% |
|
Spain |
-2.55% |
9.32% |
|
Sweden |
-2.42% |
9.94% |
|
United Kingdom |
-0.56% |
6.53% |
|
Japan |
0.33% |
1.57% |
|
Emerging Markets |
0.28% |
4.30% |
|
Argentina |
1.25% |
0.01% |
|
Brazil |
0.32% |
5.17% |
|
Bulgaria |
0.34% |
3.79% |
|
Russia |
0.31% |
5.16% |
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 |
80.190 |
-0.42% |
-1.14% |
|
Euro |
1.43591 |
1.42% |
-7.03% |
|
British pound |
1.62281 |
0.83% |
-3.65% |
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.