EQUITY MARKETS

US

S&P500 +0.24%(2,378.25); NASDAQ +0.67% (5,901); DJIA +0.06% (20,914.62)

This week’s reports:

February’s CB Leading Indicator rose by 0.6% the same as in January.
March’s Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey fell to 32.8 from February’s +43.3.
March’s NY Empire State Manufacturing Index fell to 16.4 from February’s +18.7.
March’s Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index (prelim. ) rose to 97.6 from February’s +96.3.
March’s NAHB Housing Market Index rose to 71 from February’s +65.
February’s CPI rose by 2.7% y/y versus January’s +2.5% y/y. Core CPI rose by 2.2% y/y versus January’ s +2.3% y/y.
January’s Business Inventories rose by 0.3% from December’s +0.4%.
February’s Industrial Production remained unchanged from January’s upwardly revised -0.1%. Capacity Utilization fell to 75.4% from January’s +75.5%
February’s Housing Starts rose to 1.288M from January’s upwardly revised 1.251M. Building Permits fell to 1.213M from January’s upwardly revised 1.293M.
February’s Retail Sales rose 0.1% from January’s upwardly revised +0.6%. Retail Sales ex Autos rose 0.2% from January’s upwardly revised +1.2%.
Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending March 10th fell by 2K to +241K. Continuing Jobless Claims for the week ending March 3th fell by 30K to 2,030K.

US equities rose this week thanks largely to advances in companies with high dividends that investors turn to when bond yields fall.
Trades sparked by the Federal Reserve’s dovish tone partially unwound Thursday, as US stocks slumped after the best gain in two weeks.
The S&P 500 Index added 0.2 percent to 2,378.25. The biggest boost came on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised the benchmark lending rate a quarter point and maintained its projection for two more increases this year.
The Fed raised rates by a quarter percentage-point Wednesday, and policy makers penciled in two more quarter-point increases this year and three in 2018, unchanged from projections in December.