Wall Street marked another week of gains, with the major stock benchmark indexes climbing higher. The Dow and the S&P 500 attained new records, while the NASDAQ rode a spurt in tech and communication shares. Nine of the 11 market sectors closed the week higher, led by utilities, financials, and real estate. Health care and energy declined. Gold prices also reached new record highs, driven by global demand for safer assets and expectations of further interest rate cuts by major central banks. Crude oil prices declined, marking the largest weekly drop since the beginning of September. Weaker demand and slowing economic growth in China drove the downturn in crude oil prices.
Last Week’s Economic News
- In September, retail and food services sales rose from the previous month and increased from a year earlier.
- Industrial production decreased in September after advancing in August.
- Prices for U.S. imports declined in September following a decrease the previous month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- The number of issued building permits declined in September and was 5.7% below the September 2023 rate.
- The national average retail price for regular gasoline was $3.171 per gallon on October 14.
- For the week ended October 12, there were 241,000 new claims for unemployment insurance, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week’s level.
Eye on the Week Ahead
The September figures for sales of existing and new homes are available this week. Both markets saw a slip in sales in August. However, with mortgage rates slowly decreasing and inventory increasing, sales should pick up some steam throughout the remainder of the year.
Have a nice week!
Sincerely,
Robert G. Carpenter