Presented by Rich Tegge
General market news
- The 10-year Treasury yield continued its sharp move lower last week, opening this Monday morning at 2.34 percent, its lowest level in almost four weeks. It had been at 2.62 percent less than two weeks ago. The 30-year Treasury yield, which had been as high as 3.21 percent two weeks ago, opened Monday morning at 2.95 percent.
• All three major U.S. indices were down by more than 1 percent last week, the largest decline since the beginning of November. Only the utilities and real estate sectors remained positive on the week, while financials, telecom, and industrials led the move down.
• The market dropped after Congress canceled its vote on the American Health Care Act. The failure to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has many questioning whether the new administration will face other hurdles as it attempts to make its proposed policy changes. In other news, British Prime Minister Theresa May set March 29 as the date to trigger Brexit and begin the process of leaving the EU.
• Only a handful of important economic data points were released last week. Existing home sales came in lower than expected, though the decline was likely due in large part to a lack of supply rather than lower demand. New home sales beat expectations, however. The week ended with a durable goods orders report that beat expectations, as businesses continue to invest.
| Equity Index | Week-to-Date | Month-to-Date | Year-to-Date | 12-Month |
| S&P 500 | -1.42% | -0.70% | 5.20% | 17.61% |
| Nasdaq Composite | -1.22% | 0.12% | 8.56% | 23.60% |
| DJIA | -1.52% | -0.91% | 4.85% | 20.68% |
| MSCI EAFE | -0.04% | 2.82% | 7.33% | 14.71% |
| MSCI Emerging Markets | 0.42% | 3.64% | 12.67% | 22.32% |
| Russell 2000 | -2.63% | -2.19% | 0.09% | 27.34% |
Source: Bloomberg
| Fixed Income Index | Month-to-Date | Year-to-Date | 12-Month |
| U.S. Broad Market | –0.12% | 0.75% | 1.00% |
| U.S. Treasury | –0.07% | 0.65% | –0.83% |
| U.S. Mortgages | –0.11% | 0.34% | 0.49% |
| Municipal Bond | 0.03% | 1.38% | 0.40% |
Source: Morningstar Direct
What to look forward to
A few widely followed economic data points will be reported this week. On Thursday, the final reading of Gross Domestic Product growth for the fourth quarter of 2016 will be released. It is expected to rise to 2 percent from the previous estimate of 1.9 percent.
Additionally, Jobless Claims data will be reported on Thursday.
The week will wrap up with the release of Personal Income and Outlays data.
Rich Tegge is a financial advisor located at Wealth Strategy Group 300 S. Front Street Ste C, Marquette MI 49855. He offers securities and advisory services as an Investment Adviser Representative of Commonwealth Financial Network®, Member FINRA/SIPC, a Registered Investment Adviser. He can be reached at 906-228-3696 or at rtegge@wsginvest.com.
Authored by the Investment Research team at Commonwealth Financial Network. © 2016 Commonwealth Financial Network ®