Wall Street rode a rally in tech and AI stocks for most of last week. The end of the week saw a bit of a downturn, but not enough to keep the major stock benchmark indexes from closing the week higher. The large caps of the Dow led the indexes, followed by the Russell 2000, the Global Dow, and the S&P 500. The Nasdaq inched higher. Despite a dip at the end of the week, crude oil prices posted a second straight weekly gain. Ten-year Treasury yields rose higher after positive economic data prompted the Federal Reserve to refrain from cutting interest rates in the third quarter. The market sectors mostly advanced last week, led by consumer discretionary, financials, and communication services. Utilities declined, while information technology ticked lower.
Last Week’s Economic News
- Retail sales inched up in May and 2.3% above May 2023.
- Industrial production rose 0.9% in May. Manufacturing output posted a similar gain of 0.9% last month after declining in each of the previous two months. Total industrial production in May was 0.4% higher than its year-earlier level.
- The number of issued residential building permits fell in May and 9.5% from a year ago.
- Sales of existing homes declined in May and 2.8% over the last 12 months. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.87% as of June 20. Sales of single family homes declined 0.8% from April and 2.1% from the prior year.
- The national average retail price for regular gasoline was $3.435 per gallon on June 17.
- For the week ended June 15, there were 238,000 new claims for unemployment insurance, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s level.
Eye on the Week Ahead
The final and most complete edition of the gross domestic product report for the first quarter is out this week. Thus far, data has shown that the economy accelerated at an annualized rate of 1.3%. Also available this week is the report on personal income and outlays for May. April saw income rose 0.3%, while consumer prices increased 0.3% for the month and 2.7% over the 12 months ended in April.
Have a nice week!
Sincerely,
Robert G. Carpenter