The Markets
Like winded runners, stock markets slowed at the end of last week.
Since the start of the year, the Dow Jones Industrials Index has risen by almost 11 percent, hurdling past new highs several times. The S&P 500 Index gained 9.4 percent over the same period. The index moved higher in 10 of the past 11 weeks and finished last week just shy of its all-time high. However, the Dow and the S& P's momentum - and that of some other U.S. stock markets - slowed on Friday as stronger economic data was offset by an unexpected slump in consumer sentiment.
Economists expected the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index - which gauges Americans' feelings about their current financial health, the health of the economy over the shorter-term, and growth prospects for the economy over the longer-term - to move higher in March. Instead, the index fell from 77.6 to 71.8, reaching its lowest level since December 2011. Markets fell on the news even though the negative results contradicted those of other consumer confidence measures, such as Bloomberg's Consumer Comfort Index which has moved higher for six consecutive weeks.
The consumer sentiment surprise also pushed Treasury yields down. Yields on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes fell to 2 percent. The Treasury market remains concerned that stronger economic data could lead the Federal Reserve to change its policy on quantitative easing. The Federal Reserve's next Open Market Committee meeting is next week, and may provide further insight to the matter.
Data as of 3/15/13
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1-Week
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Y-T-D
|
1-Year
|
3-Year
|
5-Year
|
10-Year
|
Standard & Poor's 500 (Domestic Stocks)
|
0.6%
|
9.4%
|
11.3%
|
10.7%
|
4.1%
|
6.1%
|
10-year Treasury Note (Yield Only)
|
2.0
|
N/A
|
2.3
|
3.7
|
3.3
|
3.8
|
Gold (per ounce)
|
0.9
|
-5.8
|
-3.2
|
13.1
|
9.6
|
16.7
|
DJ-UBS Commodity Index
|
0.8
|
-0.5
|
-5.0
|
1.8
|
-7.7
|
1.7
|
DJ Equity All REIT TR Index
|
0.5
|
6.7
|
17.6
|
17.8
|
8.0
|
12.6
|
Notes: S&P 500, Gold, DJ-UBS Commodity Index returns exclude reinvested dividends (gold does not pay a dividend) and the three-, five-, and 10-year returns are annualized; the DJ Equity All REIT TR Index does include reinvested dividends and the three-, five-, and 10-year returns are annualized; and the 10-year Treasury Note is simply the yield at the close of the day on each of the historical time periods.
Sources: Yahoo! Finance, Barron's, djindexes.com, London Bullion Market Association.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Indices are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. N/A means not applicable.
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