The New Year brought us interesting market movements, but no real change overall for the week. Both the Dow and the S+P were down less than a quarter of a percent for the week. Demand for US Treasuries increased, raising prices and lower the yield on the 10 year Treasury from 1.87% to 1.79%. This was mostly caused by the US military action.
Economically, pending home sales were a positive note, and home prices continued to grow at about 3.3% nationwide. Consumer confidence for December was below expectations, but right in line with the previous reading.
Next week, we’ll see if factory orders declined as much as expected in November, as well as get a reading on December payrolls and unemployment.
Happy New Year!
