Market Watch: Friday, May 29
The Dow Jones: +96.53 (+1.2%) to 8,500.33
The Standard & Poor's 500: +12.31 (1.4%) to 919.14
The Nasdaq: +22.54 (+1.3 percent) to 1,774.33
All three indexes made big gains for the week as a whole.
Consumer confidence is also up, according to a report from earlier in the week and according to the University of Michigan's report on consumer sentiment.
The optimism of the market, however, is tempered by several concerns:
The value of the U.S. dollar fell to a five-month low on Friday. The dollar fell the past week over concerns that U.S. government debt may lose its trip-A rating due to the rising costs of fixing the economy. "Money is flowing out of the dollar," said analyst Jessica Hoversen at MF Global Ltd. In Chicago, as quoted in a Reuters article. With the fall of the dollar, gold and silver prices have risen. Oil prices are also rising, with light sweet crude jumping by $1.23 on Friday to $66.31 a barrel.
General Motors Corp. is expected to file for bankruptcy on Monday. While this has been a long time coming, there is still much uncertainty over how extensive the effect will be for auto suppliers and other companies.
On Friday, the Commerce Department released its revised real GDP figures for the first quarter: a 5.7 percent decline. Although this was a greater dip than some analysts had predicted, it is still less than the 6.3 percent decrease in the 2008 fourth quarter. This is hopefully a sign of gradual recovery.
Another report showed that Midwest manufacturing contracted more in May than in April.
This coming week, the markets will be closely watching the release of some important economic data:
The National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index reflects activity in the housing market (which has suffered greatly in the recession). This index is released during the first week of each month.
The government's employment report will also be released next Friday. With unemployment decreasing in some areas and increasing in other states, this data will definitely be closely watched.
Retailers' sales figures will also be released in the coming week.
Finally, a quick look at foreign stock performance for Friday:
Japan's Nikkei: +0.8 percent
Britain's FTSE 100: +0.7 percent
Germany's DAX: +0.2 percent
France's CAC-40: +0.4 percent
Published by Wynn Murray
I am an aspiring reporter who loves writing and exploring the world. I especially like writing about current events, health, finance, and beauty. View profile
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