Most major indices ended the four-day trading week with modest gains except developed international stocks and the Nasdaq 100 was nearly unchanged. Both existing home sales and building starts fell in May.
Treasury bond yields rose with the 30-year bond yield at 4.382% and the 10-Year note at 4.254%. Freddie Mac reported that the average 30-year mortgage rate fell to 6.87%. Crude oil rose to $81.39 a barrel and natural gas rose to $2.939 per MMBTUs. The U.S. dollar index fell to 105.26 and gold rose to $2349.00 an ounce.
In economic reports this week:
- The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales fell 0.7% in May.
- The unsold inventory of existing homes rose 6.7% in May and 18.5% from last May.
- At this sales rate there is a 3.7-month inventory of existing homes.
- The median price of an existing home sale rose to $419,300.
- The Commerce Department reported:
- Business Inventories increased 0.3% in May.
- Business Inventories increased 0.3% in May.
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- Housing starts fell a seasonally adjusted 5.5% in May from the revised April level. April’s revised starts rose 4.1%.
- From a year ago housing starts have fallen 19.3%.
- Permits, a sign of future housing starts fell 3.8% in May and are down 9.5% from a year ago.
- Housing starts fell a seasonally adjusted 5.5% in May from the revised April level. April’s revised starts rose 4.1%.
- The Labor Department reported:
- Seasonally adjusted first-time claims for unemployment were 238,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised level.
- The 4-week moving average of claims, designed to smooth out volatility, was 232,750, an increase of 5,500 from the previous week’s revised level.
- For the full unemployment report go here: https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf .
- Seasonally adjusted first-time claims for unemployment were 238,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised level.
- The EIA weekly oil report is here: http://ir.eia.gov/wpsr/wpsrsummary.pdf . Also, the EIA reported in the prior week:
- Field production of crude was unchanged at 13.2MM BPD.
- Natural gas storage rose 71BN cubic feet and was above the highest level during the past five years at this time of year.
- Baker Hughes reported the number of oil rigs fell 3 to 485 and the number of natural gas rigs was unchanged at 98.
Please call us with any questions.
Loren Rex – Emeritus
Erik A Smith, AIF® – President & C.E.O.
These are the opinions of Loren Rex and Erik Smith and are not necessarily those of Cambridge, are for informational purposes only, and should not be construed or acted upon as individualized investment advice. The Indices mentioned are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Dow Jones, or simply the Dow, is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity indexes. The Nasdaq Composite is a stock market index that includes almost all stocks listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange (more than 2500 stocks).
Sources:
https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=WCRFPUS2&f=W
https://ir.eia.gov/ngs/ngs.html
https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms
https://www.wsj.com/market-data?mod=nav_top_subsection
https://bakerhughesrigcount.gcs-web.com/na-rig-count
