US stocks managed to hold onto small gains of 0.14% and higher for the week after investors sold off at the beginning of the week on fears about the world’s banks capital requirements and slow economic growth that pushed up gold futures to a new nominal record close of $1259.3/Troy oz on Tuesday.
Smaller-than-expected weekly jobless claims and a surge in July Wholesale Inventories sent stocks up for the second consecutive week, and helped the Dow move back into positive territory year-to-date, despite some of the thinnest volume of the year.
What follows is a summary of this week's statistics on the markets.
Weekly Gains:
- The Dow S&P and NASDAQ Composite logged 2-consecutive weeks gains of 3.08%, 4.22%, and 4.13% for the 2-week period
Dow Jones Industrial Average
- The Dow has posted weekly gains 53% of the time this year, and closed in negative territory 17 times
- 17 of the Dow 30 components rose for the week
- The Dow recorded its biggest 2-week % gain since 7/30/10 when it gained 3.64% in that 2-week period
S&P 500
- The S&P has posted weekly gains 51% of the time this year, and closed in negative territory 18 times
- 262 (~52%) of the S&P 500 components advanced for the week
- The S&P recorded its biggest 2-week % gain since 6/18/10 when it gained 4.94% in that 2-week period
NASDAQ Composite
- The NASDAQ Comp. has posted weekly gains 56% of the time this year, and closed in negative territory 16 times
- 65 of the NASDAQ 100 components increased for the week
- The NASDAQ recorded its biggest 2-week % gain since 7/16/10 when it gained 4.17% in that 2-week period
September Rally:
- The Dow, S&P and NASDAQ Composite is up 4.47%, 5.74%, and 6.08% for September so far
- When September is a positive month, the Dow finishes the rest of the year from 9/30-12/31 up 67% of the time with an average gain of 4.21%
- When September is a positive month, the S&P finishes the rest of the year from 9/30-12/31 up 80% of the time with an average gain of 5.29%
- When September is a positive month, the NASDAQ finishes the rest of the year from 9/30-12/31 up 67% of the time with an average gain of 7.07%
Since March 9, 2009, the Dow is up 59.8%, the S&P is up 64% and the NASDAQ is up 76.8%
S&P Sectors: Seven out of ten sectors were positive for the week led by health care, up over 2%. Utilities were the worst performing stocks, down 0.73%.
- Medco Health Solutions was the biggest percent gainer in the health care sector, up nearly 6% for the week
- The utilities sector was hurt by PG & E, down the most this week, with a loss of 7%
- Year-to-date, six sectors are trading to the upside, with industrial and consumer discretionary stocks leading the way
More Weekly Stats Here
Commodity Impact:Crude for October Delivery settled at $76.45 on Friday, advancing 2.5% for the week, and posting its biggest weekly percent gain since July 24, when it rose 3.91%.
- Gold for December delivery closed at a new record of $1259.3/Troy oz on Tuesday, surpassing its previous closing record of $1258.3/Troy oz set on June 18
- Gold, which was supported earlier in the week by European bank fears and slow economic growth, slightly fell $4.6 or 0.37% for the week , settling down for the third consecutive day on Friday at $1246.5/oz
Currencies Impact: The US Dollar Index finished down ~0.41% after the dollar weakened against the Australian dollar and Japanese yen.
- The Australian dollar hit a 4-month high against the US dollar of $0.9276 on Thursday, and was up about 1% for the week against the greenback
Global Index Performance:
Note: Data based on preliminary numbers. May adjust slightly due to settling at close.
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