EQUITY MARKETS

US

S&P500 +1.53%(2,642.22); NASDAQ -0.60% (6,847.59); DJIA +2.86% (242,31.59)

This week’s reports:

Q3 2017 GDP Growth Annualized (second estimate) was 3.3%, higher than the previous estimate of 3.0% and up from Q2’s 3.1% growth.
October’s Personal Income rose 0.4%, the same increase as in September. Personal Spending rose 0.3% from September’s +0.9%.
October’s New Home Sales rose 6.2% from September’s +14.2%. Pending Home Sales rose 3.5% from September’s -0.4%.
September’s S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices rose 6.2% from August’s +5.8%.
November’s Markit Manufacturing PMI rose to 53.9 from October’s 53.8.
November’s ISM Manufacturing Index fell to 58.2 from October’s 58.7.
November’s Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index rose to 30 from October’s 12.
October’s Wholesale Inventories fell 0.4% from September’s +0.1%.
Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending November 24^th fell by 2K to 238K. Continuing Jobless Claims for the week ending November 17^th rose by 42K to 1,957K.

US stocks had a volatile week, as Friday’s decline on news that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents interrupted a weekly rally. Shares ended the week higher as the US Senate voted in favor of President Trump’s tax reform.
Technology firms fell as investors reasoned tax cuts will mean little to software companies that have some of the lowest effective rates. Speculation that financial firms will benefit the most, coupled with signs the president’s Federal Reserve nominee will go light on banking regulation, triggered the biggest five-day advance in the sector in more than a year.