The Markets
At long last: Proverbial corks were flying last week as the Nasdaq finally broke its 15-year-old record, set in March 2000, to close the week at 5092.08. The 3.25% weekly jump was driven largely by earnings reports from several large technology stalwarts. The S&P 500 also posted a new high, as indexes other than the Nasdaq posted weekly gains ranging from 1.25% to 1.75%.
Last Week's Headlines
- Existing home sales jumped 6.1% in March to their highest level in 18 months, reported the National Association of Realtors®. Sales rose to a seasonally adjusted 5.19 million homes, up from 4.89 million homes in February. Sales in March were 10.4% higher than a year prior, and March's jump was the largest monthly increase since December 2010.
- Sales of new single-family homes dropped 11.4% in March, to a seasonally adjusted 481,000 units, according to estimates reported by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The median sales price of new homes sold in March was $277,400, while the average price was $343,300.
- Durable goods orders increased 4% in March to $240.2 billion, reported the Commerce Department. Transportation equipment, up 13.5% to $80.3 billion, led the increase. Within the transportation category, nondefense aircraft and parts drove the increase, up 30.6% from February. Excluding transportation, orders fell 0.2% for the month.
Eye on the Week Ahead
As investors monitor the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to see if their lofty levels can be sustained, markets may respond to several key economic news items, including a Federal Open Market Committee announcement, the advance estimate of the Q1 gross domestic product (GDP) numbers, pending home sales, personal income and outlays figures, and the ISM Manufacturing Index reading.
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. All investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal, and there can be no guarantee that any investing strategy will be successful.
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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