Weekly Market Update Oct. 19, 2012
Domestic stock prices ended the week with moderate gains. Despite today’s sell‐off, stocks ended the week higher, with both positive and negative earnings news impacting trading. Google, Microsoft and General Electric each posted disappointing quarterly earnings results. Today’s decline in the S&P 500 was the largest since June 25th. Global markets were also generally higher. World markets were generally higher on stronger than expected U.S. economic data. China’s growth rate was in line with analyst expectations. Emerging markets were strong.
Treasury prices declined this week, and yields rose. Yields on the benchmark 10‐year Treasury dropped the most in six weeks today, but yields rose for the week. Investors sought a safe haven amid concerns over delays in Spain’s bailout.
Commodity indexes were generally lower this week. Energy prices dropped after disappointing earnings sparked concerns of lower demand. Ironically, gold also fell, largely due to improving economic data. Agricultural commodities prices rose. Chart of the Week October 19, 2012.
| MARKET DASHBOARD | ||||
| Index | Price | Weekly Chg. | % Chg. | YTD % Chg. |
| S&P 500 | 1,433.16 | 6.63 | 0.5% | 14.1% |
| Dow Industrials | 13,343.51 | 14.74 | 0.1% | 9.2% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 3,005.62 | -38.49 | -1.3% | 15.4% |
| Russell 2000 | 821.00 | -2.09 | -0.3% | 10.8% |
| Euro Stoxx Index | 274.08 | 4.65 | 1.7% | 12.1% |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,128.30 | 23.37 | 1.1% | -3.2% |
| 10-Year U.S. Treasury | 1.77 | 11 bps | NM | -1 bps |
| DJ UBS Commodity Index | 146.37 | -0.55 | -0.4% | 4.0% |
| Gold | $1,721.96 | -$32.25 | -1.8% | 10.0% |
| Crude Oil | $90.11 | -$1.81 | -2.0% | -8.4% |
| U.S. Dollar Index | 79.64 | -0.03 | 0.0% | -0.7% |
| VIX Index | 16.91 | 0.55 | 3.4% | -28.7% |
| Source: Bloomberg | ||||
| As of October 19, 2012 | ||||