Week Ended October 1, 2010
Large-cap stocks broke a
four-week streak of gains and ended modestly lower, while smaller-cap shares
rose somewhat. Financial stocks led the market down on Monday following a
credit rating downgrade of Anglo Irish Bank, which renewed concerns about the
fragility of the European financial system. (On Thursday, the Irish government
announced it was investing nearly €30 billion to recapitalize the bank,
but the move was generally greeted with relief by investors.) Health care
stocks led a modest rebound in stock prices on Tuesday, thanks to a report on
strong growth in prescription drugs sales at a leading drugstore chain. The
market struggled through the rest of the week despite some encouraging economic
data, including a drop in weekly jobless claims and a sharp rise in a regional
manufacturing index. While Friday brought news of better-than-expected
increases in personal incomes and spending in August, a decline in the
Institute for Supply Management's Purchasing Managers Index—although
widely expected and still indicative of manufacturing growth—appeared
to dampen sentiment somewhat. One factor in the week's restrained performance
may have been the recent run-up in stock prices. Despite its lackluster
performance over the past few days, the Dow enjoyed its best gain for the month
of September in over 70 years.
|
U.S. Stocks1 |
|||
|
Index2 |
Friday's Close |
Week's Change |
% Change |
|
DJIA |
10829.68 |
-30.58 |
3.85% |
|
S&P
500 |
1146.24 |
-2.43 |
2.79% |
|
NASDAQ
Composite |
2370.75 |
-10.47 |
4.48% |
|
S&P
MidCap 400 |
803.89 |
7.60 |
10.63% |
|
Russell
2000 |
678.42 |
8.68 |
6.99% |
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 October 1, 2010
U.S. Treasury yields fell
as investors continued to pour money into government bonds. The two-year note
hit a record low and Treasury auctions saw strong demand during the week. Bond
investors were encouraged by speculation that the Federal Reserve would begin
purchasing Treasury debt to help support the slowing economic recovery, a
possibility that was suggested during the previous week's meeting of the
Federal Open Market Committee. Investors are closely watching economic data to
see how the Fed might respond. The week's data was mixed. On Tuesday, the
Conference Board announced that its consumer confidence index dropped to 48.5
in September from 53.2 in August, an indication that consumers would be
cautious about discretionary spending. However, on Friday, a report from the
Commerce Department showed that personal spending and income rose in August. An
Institute for Supply Management report on the manufacturing sector showed that
production and employment continued to expand, but the pace has moderated from
earlier in the year. That report, along with signs of subdued inflation,
resulted in a late-day Treasury rally to end the week.
|
U.S. Treasury Yields1 |
||
|
Maturity |
October 1, 2010 |
September 24, 2010 |
|
2-Year |
0.41% |
0.44% |
|
10-Year |
2.51% |
2.61% |
|
30-Year |
3.71% |
3.79% |
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, October 1, 2010.
___________
Week Ended September 24,
2010
International
Stocks
Foreign stock markets closed higher for the week ending
September 24, 2010 with the broad international measure, the MSCI EAFE Index
(Europe, Australasia, and Far East), gaining 2.8%.
|
|
||
|
Region/Country |
Week's Return |
% Change Year-to-Date |
|
EAFE |
2.80% |
1.51% |
|
Europe ex-U.K. |
4.28% |
-1.39% |
|
Denmark |
4.44% |
21.40% |
|
France |
4.89% |
-4.79% |
|
Germany |
4.72% |
-0.37% |
|
Italy |
4.36% |
-12.88% |
|
Netherlands |
4.80% |
-0.06% |
|
Spain |
4.57% |
-13.24% |
|
Sweden |
5.03% |
24.68% |
|
Switzerland |
2.54% |
5.43% |
|
United
Kingdom |
2.80% |
3.87% |
|
Japan |
0.33% |
2.65% |
|
AC
Far East ex-Japan |
1.12% |
9.70% |
|
Hong Kong |
2.50% |
15.01% |
|
Korea |
1.28% |
10.23% |
|
Malaysia |
-0.35% |
28.43% |
|
Singapore |
1.63% |
13.76% |
|
Taiwan |
0.59% |
2.75% |
|
Thailand |
4.40% |
40.07% |
|
EM
Latin America |
1.81% |
5.06% |
|
Brazil |
1.67% |
-0.68% |
|
Mexico |
3.32% |
8.87% |
|
Argentina |
9.70% |
41.04% |
|
EM
(Emerging Markets) |
1.69% |
8.70% |
|
Hungary |
3.88% |
-4.24% |
|
India |
3.45% |
17.60% |
|
Israel |
6.16% |
1.56% |
|
Russia |
1.56% |
1.11% |
|
Turkey |
1.90% |
26.06% |
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
2.94%.
|
|
||
|
Region/Country |
Week's Return |
% Change Year-to-Date |
|
Developed
Markets |
2.94% |
6.89% |
|
Europe |
|
|
|
Denmark |
3.61% |
4.44% |
|
France |
3.79% |
1.76% |
|
Germany |
3.88% |
2.26% |
|
Italy |
3.55% |
-2.86% |
|
Spain |
3.66% |
-4.64% |
|
Sweden |
4.05% |
11.76% |
|
United
Kingdom |
2.11% |
6.51% |
|
Japan |
2.49% |
13.93% |
|
Emerging
Markets |
0.79% |
13.11% |
|
Argentina |
-0.64% |
18.39% |
|
Brazil |
0.74% |
13.28% |
|
Bulgaria |
0.56% |
6.42% |
|
Russia |
0.60% |
10.11% |
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 |
84.220 |
-1.94% |
-10.54% |
|
Euro |
1.34761 |
-3.30% |
6.07% |
|
British
pound |
1.58141 |
-1.15% |
2.07% |
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.