Week Ended June 25, 2010
Stocks fell for the week.
Trading started out on an upbeat note, as investors welcomed China's
announcement that would let its currency, the yuan, fluctuate at least to some
extent relative to other currencies. Disappointing economic news quickly
drained investors' enthusiasm, however. On Tuesday, the government reported
that existing home sales had declined in May, betraying the expectations of
many economists for a gain. Concerns over the health of European banks also
provoked concerns and weighed on the euro. Stocks took another leg lower on
Thursday, as investors appeared to react to disappointing outlooks from
prominent retailers. The government also reported that durable goods orders had
fallen in May, although the data were skewed by a drop in highly volatile
aircraft orders. Investors also appeared to be worried about the announcement
of a deal on financial reform and its implications for profits in the sector.
These worries appeared to wane somewhat on Friday, as details emerged
suggesting the new rules would not be as stringent as many feared. The week's
economic news was not all poor, however. The Labor Department reported on
Thursday that the number of people applying for jobless benefits over the past
week had fallen substantially, and a gauge of consumer sentiment rose to its
highest level in over two years.
|
U.S.
Stocks1 |
|||
|
Index2 |
Friday's Close |
Week's Change |
% Change |
|
DJIA |
10143.81 |
-306.83 |
-2.73% |
|
S&P
500 |
1076.76 |
-40.75 |
-3.44% |
|
NASDAQ
Composite |
2223.48 |
-86.32 |
-2.01% |
|
S&P
MidCap 400 |
745.27 |
-29.00 |
2.56% |
|
Russell
2000 |
643.09 |
-24.11 |
1.42% |
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 25, 2010
The Federal Open Market
Committee (FOMC) met during the week and issued a statement that was more downbeat
than earlier outlooks for the economy. Since its last meeting in April, the
statement said, "financial conditions have become less supportive of
economic growth on balance, largely reflecting developments abroad." Later
in the week, the government lowered its estimate of how much the economy grew
in the first quarter from 3.0% to 2.7%, annualized. The FOMC also said that
inflation, contrary to what normally takes place in an improving economy, is
trending lower. "Prices of energy and other commodities have declined
somewhat in recent months, and underlying inflation has trended lower."
The FOMC reiterated its expectation that "economic conditions, including
low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable
inflation expectations, are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the
federal funds rate for an extended period." In this environment, the
Federal Reserve is unlikely to raise short-term interest rates until sometime
next year. Treasury yields fell on the news and closed below their levels of
the previous week.
|
U.S.
Treasury Yields1 |
||
|
Maturity |
June 25, 2010 |
June 18, 2010 |
|
2-Year |
0.65% |
0.71% |
|
10-Year |
3.11% |
3.22% |
|
30-Year |
4.06% |
4.15% |
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 25, 2010.
___________
Week Ended June 18, 2010
International
Stocks
Foreign stock markets closed higher for the week ending June 18,
2010 with the broad international measure, the MSCI EAFE Index (Europe,
Australasia, and Far East), gaining 4.17%.
|
|
||
|
Region/Country |
Week's Return |
% Change Year-to-Date |
|
EAFE |
4.17% |
-8.39% |
|
Europe ex-U.K. |
5.65% |
-12.01% |
|
Denmark |
6.08% |
11.50% |
|
France |
6.21% |
-15.23% |
|
Germany |
5.20% |
-9.81% |
|
Italy |
8.03% |
-20.87% |
|
Netherlands |
5.62% |
-7.86% |
|
Spain |
7.65% |
-26.60% |
|
Sweden |
6.96% |
6.97% |
|
Switzerland |
4.01% |
-5.49% |
|
United
Kingdom |
3.28% |
-9.54% |
|
Japan |
2.92% |
-0.17% |
|
AC
Far East ex-Japan |
3.71% |
-2.93% |
|
Hong Kong |
2.24% |
-3.21% |
|
Korea |
5.83% |
-0.59% |
|
Malaysia |
3.00% |
9.07% |
|
Singapore |
3.56% |
-0.54% |
|
Taiwan |
3.37% |
-10.43% |
|
Thailand |
2.21% |
11.65% |
|
EM
Latin America |
2.97% |
-3.67% |
|
Brazil |
2.75% |
-8.43% |
|
Mexico |
3.10% |
6.14% |
|
Argentina |
4.62% |
6.05% |
|
EM
(Emerging Markets) |
4.00% |
-2.51% |
|
Hungary |
4.23% |
-17.00% |
|
India |
4.42% |
2.07% |
|
Israel |
3.08% |
-6.96% |
|
Russia |
4.06% |
-3.96% |
|
Turkey |
5.24% |
5.76% |
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
1.46%.
|
|
||
|
Region/Country |
Week's Return |
% Change Year-to-Date |
|
Developed
Markets |
1.46% |
-3.24% |
|
Europe |
|
|
|
Denmark |
1.27% |
-6.75% |
|
France |
1.86% |
-9.16% |
|
Germany |
1.43% |
-8.36% |
|
Italy |
2.71% |
-12.42% |
|
Spain |
1.76% |
-16.12% |
|
Sweden |
1.99% |
-2.60% |
|
United
Kingdom |
1.06% |
-4.21% |
|
Japan |
1.08% |
4.00% |
|
Emerging
Markets |
1.51% |
4.95% |
|
Argentina |
5.92% |
0.35% |
|
Brazil |
1.64% |
5.38% |
|
Bulgaria |
0.36% |
-1.24% |
|
Russia |
1.15% |
2.96% |
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 |
90.825 |
-0.93% |
-2.50% |
|
Euro |
1.23831 |
-2.39% |
13.69% |
|
British
pound |
1.48011 |
-1.71% |
8.34% |
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.