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In the Markets: Week-Ending January 29

by Peter J. Creedon

Newsletter: In the Markets – Week-Ending January 29
Crystal Brook Advisors
We Make Financial Planning Crystal Clear™

United States: The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index extended gains throughout the trading day, trimming its worst monthly drop since August, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 300 points as Microsoft Corp. rallied on earnings.

Europe: Paris Climate Deal Seen Costing $12.1 Trillion over 25 Years. HSBC Holdings Plc said its U.K. online banking continues to be affected by a cyber-attack that started earlier on Friday, the second time the bank’s online services have been disrupted in Britain this month.

Asia: Petro China Expects 2015 Profit to Fall as Much as 70% on Oil Slump. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda sprung another surprise on investors Friday, adopting a negative interest-rate strategy to spur banks to lend in the face of a weakening economy.(1)

Monday 01/25

• Shaking off recent decline in the stock market, consumer confidence up to 98.1 in January.(2)
• Benchmarks closed in the green following a second set of gains in oil prices which sent energy shares upward. Crude prices ended in positive territory for the second consecutive day and rose to their highest level in the last 10 trading sessions.(3)

Tuesday 01/26

• CPI rose 0.2% in October, with rebound in energy and core items as well as slight increase in food.(4)
• National Association of Home Builders Index decreased by 3 points to 62 in November.(5)
• Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results. Results Produce Record Quarterly Profit of $18.4 Billion.(6)

Wednesday 01/27

• New home sales registered a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 544,000 units in December, beating expectations for a 500,000 unit pace. For 2015, there were 501,000 units sold, 14.5 percent higher than 2014.(7)
• As of Jan 26, Q4 results from 92 of S&P 500 members before the market opened. Total earnings for these companies are down -1.4% from the same period last year on -1.8% lower revenues.(8)

Thursday 01/28

• Durable goods dropped 5.1 percent in December. Spending cuts on aircraft played a big role but steep declines in a number of other key sectors suggest business spending could be much weaker than expected.(9)

Friday 01/29

• Real GDP growth rose at just a 0.7 percent annualized pace in the fourth quarter.(10)
• Bank of Japan has introduced a surprising negative interest rate policy.

 

 

Market Close
U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on Friday for a second straight weekly gain. But despite Friday’s big rise, the main indexes ended January with steep monthly losses of 5% to 8%. The S&P 500 SPX, +2.48% gained 46.65 points, or 2.5%, to 1,940.02 and gained 1.7% over the week. The main benchmark fell 5% over the month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +2.47% gained 394.45 points, or 2.5%, to 16,466.09 and booked a 2.3% weekly gain. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite COMP, +2.38% ended the day up 107.28 points, or 2.4%, at 4,613.95 and finished the week roughly where it started.(11)

Contributor: Felipe Vargas-Zúñiga

Sources:
(1) Source: Bloomberg
(2) Source: The Conference Board, U.S. Department of Labor and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC
(3) Source: Zacks
(4) Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
(5) Source: National Association of Home Builders
(6) Source: Apple
(7) Source: U.S. Department of Commerce and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC
(8) Source: Zacks
(9) Source: Source: U.S. Department of Commerce and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC
(10) Source: U.S. Department of Commerce and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC
(11) Source:MarketWatch

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