U.S. Stock Market

Week Ended December 23, 2010

Stocks enjoyed another round of gains in the holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 enjoyed its largest gain on Tuesday, as investors drove financial shares higher in response to news that Toronto-Dominion Bank was acquiring auto lender Chrysler Financial from a private equity group. The markets maintained their momentum on Wednesday despite mildly disappointing news on existing home sales in November. The gains helped lift the S&P to its highest level since the eve of Lehmans collapse in the fall of 2008. Thursday brought a host of mostly positive economic data, but it failed to drive further gains in light pre-holiday trading. Durable goods orders excluding the volatile transportation sector rose by 2.6% in November, partially reversing a sharp decline in October. Weekly jobless claims continued to trend lower, and a gauge of consumer sentiment was revised slightly higher.

U.S. Stocks1

Index2

Thursday's Close

Week's Change

% Change
Year-to-Date

DJIA

11573.49

81.58

10.98%

S&P 500

1256.77

12.86

12.70%

NASDAQ Composite

2665.60

22.63

17.47%

S&P MidCap 400

910.79

8.15

25.34%

Russell 2000

788.97

9.62

24.43%

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.

 

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U.S. Bond Market

Week Ended December 23, 2010

Consumers are beginning to feel a bit more optimistic about their job prospects and the direction of the economy, according to data compiled by the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey released on Thursday, December 23. Twenty-seven percent of consumers reported upbeat news about their employment gains, the highest level since 1983. The government reported that the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.6%, slightly faster than was previously estimated, and forecasters have been raising their growth projections for the fourth quarter of 2010. The news gave investors reason for hope as we close out the year and look ahead to the first quarter of 2011. The bond market responded by pushing Treasury yields higher during the holiday-shortened week; the Treasury market closed at 2 p.m. on Thursday.

U.S. Treasury Yields1

Maturity

December 23, 2010

December 17, 2010

2-Year

0.65%

0.60%

10-Year

3.38%

3.32%

30-Year

4.47%

4.42%

This table is for illustrative purposes only. Past performance cannot guarantee future results.

1Source of data: Bloomberg.com, as of 2 p.m. ET Thursday, December 23, 2010.

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International Market

 

Week Ended December 17, 2010

International Stocks

Foreign stock markets closed lower for the week ending December 17, 2010 with the broad international measure, the MSCI EAFE Index (Europe, Australasia, and Far East), losing -0.09%.

 

Region/Country

Week's Return

% Change Year-to-Date

EAFE

-0.09%

5.77%

Europe ex-U.K.

-0.22%

0.63%

Denmark

1.07%

28.11%

France

-0.13%

-3.68%

Germany

-0.83%

8.07%

Italy

-2.22%

-16.30%

Netherlands

-0.52%

-0.73%

Spain

-3.15%

-22.47%

Sweden

2.49%

31.95%

Switzerland

1.12%

9.90%

United Kingdom

-1.07%

7.01%

Japan

1.24%

11.77%

AC Far East ex-Japan

-0.50%

16.86%

Hong Kong

-1.34%

21.57%

Korea

1.27%

23.60%

Malaysia

-0.15%

33.13%

Singapore

-1.42%

17.24%

Taiwan

1.98%

18.09%

Thailand

-2.18%

54.51%

EM Latin America

0.41%

10.29%

Brazil

0.33%

1.26%

Mexico

0.88%

24.63%

Argentina

-3.78%

73.06%

EM (Emerging Markets)

0.07%

15.41%

Hungary

0.11%

-9.95%

India

1.03%

15.44%

Israel

0.64%

3.06%

Russia

1.46%

17.80%

Turkey

-5.04%

16.63%

 

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 -0.57%.

 

Region/Country

Week's Return

% Change Year-to-Date

Developed Markets

-0.57%

3.24%

Europe

 

 

Denmark

-0.91%

-1.66%

France

-1.21%

-3.95%

Germany

-1.04%

-3.33%

Italy

-0.99%

-8.31%

Spain

-1.29%

-13.29%

Sweden

0.25%

7.40%

United Kingdom

-2.23%

1.27%

Japan

0.09%

12.61%

Emerging Markets

-2.07%

10.65%

Argentina

-2.67%

30.60%

Brazil

-2.52%

8.43%

Bulgaria

-0.69%

7.67%

Russia

-0.50%

7.78%

 

International Currency Markets

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

 

Currency

Close
(December 17, 2010)

Week's Return
(U.S. $)

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

Japanese yen

84.135

0.24%

-10.65%

Euro

1.3151

0.54%

8.35%

British pound

1.54691

2.05%

4.21%

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.