EQUITY MARKETS

US

S&P500 +1.51%(2,384.20); NASDAQ +2.32% (6,047.61); DJIA +1.91% (20,940.51)

This week’s reports:

Q1’s 2017 GDP Annualized was +0.7% versus Q4’s 2016 +2.1%.
February’s S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices rose 5.9% y/y versus January’s +5.7% y/y.
March’s Durable Goods Orders rose by 0.7% from February’s upwardly revised +2.3%. Durable Goods Orders ex Transportation fell by 0.2% from February’s upwardly revised +0.7%.
March’s Wholesale Inventories (prelim.) fell by 0.1% from February’s downwardly revised +0.2%.
April’s Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index fell to 97 from March’s 98.
Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending April 21th rose by 14K to +257K. Continuing Jobless Claims for the week ending April 14th fell by 10K to 1,988K.

US stocks finished near all-time highs Friday.
The S&P 500 Index closed down 0.19 percent at 2,384.20, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.19 percent to 20,940.51 and the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.22 percent to 5,583.53. The small-cap Russell 200 Index sank 1.2 percent to 1,400.41.
The US economy expanded at the slowest pace in three years as weak auto sales and lower home-heating bills dragged down consumer spending, offsetting a pickup in investment led by housing and oil drilling.