Stocks trended higher for much of last week until Friday, when a Friday slide pulled several of the benchmark indexes lower. Only the Dow and the Global Dow ended the week with gains, while the NASDAQ, the S&P 500, and the Russell 2000 finished in the red. Last Friday, word that the United States would enforce tariffs against Canada, China, and Mexico cooled traders’ appetite for risk, sending bond yields and the dollar higher. Crude oil prices ended the week on an uptick but not enough to prevent prices from closing last week lower.
Last Week’s Economic News
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- The Federal Open Market Committee met last week and decided, unanimously, to maintain the current federal funds target rate range at 4.25%-4.50%.
- In December, personal income rose.
- Sales of new single-family homes rose in December and were 6.7% above the December 2023 estimate. For 2024, sales were 2.5% above the 2023 figure. Total inventory sat at an 8.5-month supply at the current sales pace.
- New orders for manufactured durable goods in December, down four of the last five months, decreased 2.2%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This followed a 2.0% November decrease.
- The advance report on the international trade in goods showed the deficit was $122.1 billion in December, up $18.6 billion, or 18.0%, from November.
- The national average retail price for regular gasoline was $3.103 per gallon on January 27.
- For the week ended January 25, there were 207,000 new claims for unemployment insurance, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week’s level. According to the Department of Labor, the advance rate for insured unemployment claims for the week ended January 18 was 1.2%. The advance number of those receiving unemployment insurance benefits during the week ended January 18 was 1,858,000, a decrease of 42,000 from the previous week’s level, which was revised up by 1,000.
Eye on the Week Ahead
This week’s focus is on the labor sector, with the release of the JOLTS report and the employment situation. Overall, employment has been steady, which has factored into the Federal Reserve’s decision to maintain rates.
Have a nice week!
Sincerely,
Robert G. Carpenter