Market Roundup: Stocks Close Higher Despite Hawkish Fed Comments

Economy/Stock Market

Stocks started the week on a high note, with Energy and Technology stocks leading the upswing. West Texas Intermediate crude oil also settled at $47.72 a barrel. Stocks traded lower on Tuesday. Consumer prices increased in April as the Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% versus March’s uptick of 0.1% and February’s 0.2% decline. Core prices, discounting food and energy, jumped 0.2% as expected. Industrial production ramped up by 0.7% in April versus expectations of a 0.3% expansion, while Commerce Department data showed housing starts climbed 6.6% in April to an annual rate of 1.17 million units. The stock indices closed out Wednesday’s trading session mixed on Federal Reserve comments. Minutes from April’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting showed a rate hike is somewhat likely for June, but only if economic data warrants it. Crude oil retreated midweek with West Texas Intermediate crude settling at $48.19 a barrel. Figures from the Energy Information Administration showed a 1.3 million barrels lift in inventories in the past week. Stocks rebounded somewhat in Thursday’s afternoon momentum. Labor Department data showed first-time claims for unemployment benefits decreased by 16,000 to 278,000, while continuing claims dipped by 13,000 to 2.152 million last week. Indices closed in the green zone on Friday. Better-than-expected quarterly data led the Technology sector higher. West Texas Intermediate crude oil settled the week at $47.75 a barrel. Existing home sales ticked up in April as data from the National Association of Realtors showed a 1.7 percent increase to an annual rate of 5.45 million units. Sales in March were revised slightly higher to 5.36 million units from the initially reported 5.33 million.

Market Roundup: Despite Early Gains, Indices Closed The Week Down

Economy/Stock Market

Indices started the week with mixed moves as the Dow dipped on Monday, while the S&P 500 Index and NASDAQ added slight gains. The mixed results were likely due to a variety of economic news. The markets saw a dip in crude oil prices, a belief that earnings are likely to remain weak with S&P companies posting their lowest earnings-per-share growth rate since the financial crisis and support for the Fed’s dovish stance from both the Minneapolis and Chicago Federal Reserve presidents. Stocks surged on Tuesday. Oil prices jumped, and many international markets saw gains. Midweek, U.S. markets were back in the red with Consumer Discretionary stocks taking the biggest hit. Thursday, both the S&P and Dow were nearly flat. The weekly Jobless Claims unexpectedly increased as the Department of Labor couldn’t point to any special factors. The four-week moving average still increased, but remained consistent with solid monthly job growth. Friday saw the markets decline yet again. Overall for the week, the markets ended down.