US
S&P500 +4.30%(2,732.22); NASDAQ +5.31% (7,239.47); DJIA +4.25% (25,219.38)
This week’s reports:
- January’s CPI rose 2.1% y/y, the same as in December. Month-on-month, the CPI rose 0.5%, faster than the expected +0.3% and more than December’s +0.2%. Core CPI rose 1.8% y/y, the same as in December.
- February’s Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index (prelim.) rose to 99.9 from January’s 95.7.
- January’s Housing Starts rose 9.7% from December’s -6.9%. Building Permits rose 7.4% from December’s -0.1%.
- January’s Retail Sales fell 0.3% from December’s +0.4%. Retail Sales ex Autos were flat from December’s +0.1%.
- February’s Empire State Manufacturing Index fell to 13.1 from January’s 17.7.
- February’s Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index rose to 25.8 from January’s 22.2.
- December’s Business Inventories rose 0.4%, the same as in November.
- January’s Industrial Production fell 0.1% from December’s +0.4%. Capacity Utilization fell to 77.5% from December’s 77.7%.
- Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending February 9th rose by 7K to 230K. Continuing Jobless Claims for the week ending February 2nd rose by 15K to 1,942K.
- US stocks capped their best week in at least five years as markets showed firm signs of regaining their footing after tumbling last week. Many investors and analysts have pointed to strengthening fundamentals, such as corporate earnings and economic growth, as reasons for the rebound. The upbeat economic backdrop helped many investors use the recent drawdown as a buying opportunity to add to their stock portfolios at lower prices.
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