A fresh closing high on the Dow on Friday finally enabled it to edge back into positive territory for the year, while the S&P 500 ended the week basically flat. However, after the prior week's respite from selling pressure, the Nasdaq and the small caps of the Russell 2000 returned to their recent losing ways. 
Chart reflects price changes, not total return. Because it does not include dividends or splits, it should not be used to benchmark performance of specific investments.
Last Week's Headlines
- Discussion among members of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy committee has begun to turn to how best to manage the impact of the end of supportive economic measures, whenever that seems appropriate. According to minutes of the committee's most recent meeting, the state of the labor market was a major point of debate and will continue to play a major role in Fed policy.
- As more homeowners put their houses on the market in April, sales of existing homes rose 1.3% over the course of the month. It was the first monthly increase this year, but the National Association of Realtors® said that still left home resales 6.8% lower than the previous April.
- New home sales also jumped in April; the Commerce Department said they were up 6.4% for the month, though that was 4.2% below April 2013.
- Parties campaigning on anti-European Union themes gained ground in the EU's parliamentary elections over the weekend. However, a majority of seats are still held by mainstream parties, so financial assistance programs for weaker members shouldn't see any immediate disruption.
- Credit Suisse agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle federal charges that for decades it had helped Americans avoid taxes by concealing assets in undeclared bank accounts. The Swiss bank also pleaded guilty to a criminal charge of conspiracy.
- China's manufacturing sector was on the brink of expansion in May, according to the Markit Purchasing Managers Index. The reading on the monthly survey hit a four-month high of 49.7% (a reading of 50% indicates expansion). China also gave Russia some relief from Western economic sanctions by signing a $400 billion agreement to purchase gas from Russia's leading supplier.
- A Pennsylvania federal grand jury charged five members of a Chinese military unit with stealing industrial secrets by hacking computers at six U.S. enterprises in the nuclear, solar, and metals industries. The indictment is said to be the first involving a governmental body rather than an individual corporation.
Eye on the Week Ahead
During the holiday-shortened week, investors will assess the results of the EU elections. They also will get a second look at Q1 economic growth and a smattering of manufacturing, housing, and consumer data.
Data sources: Economic: Based on data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (unemployment, inflation); U.S. Department of Commerce (GDP, corporate profits, retail sales, housing); S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Index (home prices); Institute for Supply Management (manufacturing/services). Performance: Based on data reported in WSJ Market Data Center (indexes); U.S. Treasury (Treasury yields); U.S. Energy Information Administration/Bloomberg.com Market Data (oil spot price, WTI Cushing, OK); www.goldprice.org (spot gold/silver); Oanda/FX Street (currency exchange rates). All information is based on sources deemed reliable, but no warranty or guarantee is made as to its accuracy or completeness. Neither the information nor any opinion expressed herein constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any securities, and should not be relied on as financial advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is a price-weighted index composed of 30 widely traded blue-chip U.S. common stocks. The S&P 500 is a market-cap weighted index composed of the common stocks of 500 leading companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy. The NASDAQ Composite Index is a market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The Russell 2000 is a market-cap weighted index composed of 2,000 U.S. small-cap common stocks. The Global Dow is an equally weighted index of 150 widely traded blue-chip common stocks worldwide. Market indices listed are unmanaged and are not available for direct investment.
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