DOW, S&P, and NASDAQ all close week at record highs – Stocks continued to rally with major indexes up over 3% for the week. While many are critical of Trump’s cabinet and other appointments, investors have seen them as extremely business friendly, which has fueled a continuing rally. Oil rose further this week, which boosted energy stocks and is expected to help areas tied to oil production, which have lost oil and mining jobs. Oil was around $46 just a couple weeks ago, but closed at $51.50 Friday. The DOW Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 19,756.85, up from last week’s close of 19,170.42. The S&P 500 ended the week at 2,259.53, up from its close of 2,191.95 last week. The NASDAQ closed the week at 5,444.50, up from last week’s close of 5,255.65.
U.S. Treasury Bond yields higher – The 10-year U.S. Treasury Bond closed the week yielding 2.47%, up from 2.40% last Friday. The 30-year Treasury Bond yield closed the week at 3.16%, up from 3.08% last week. Mortgage rates follow bond yields, so we watch treasury bonds closely.
Mortgage rates continue to rise – The Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey released on December 8, 2016 showed that average mortgage rates from lenders surveyed for the most popular mortgage products were as follows: The 30-year fixed rate average was 4.13%. The 15-year fixed average rate was 3.36%. The 5/1 ARM average rate was 3.17%.
Home sales numbers and price date should begin to be reported next week. It will be interesting to see what November sales figures look like.
Have a great weekend,
Syd