Markets:
The market struggled this past week, as worries about Greece, mixed earnings reports, and China’s crackdown on over the counter margin trading combined to send all 4 indexes down over -1% on Friday.
China also had weak exports – they fell 15%, vs. forecasts for a 12% gain.
The VIX rose over 10% on Friday, to finish at 13.89, up 10.41% for the week.
The US dollar had a down week, and fell vs. major currencies:
Weak Market Breadth: This week, 6 out of 30 Dow stocks rose, vs. 27 last week. Only 26% of the S&P 500 rose, vs. 75% last week.
US Economic News:
- Building Permits fell over 5%
- Housing Starts rose 2% in March, vs. 16% forecast
- NY State Mfg. fell -1.9%, vs. prior 6%…3rd straight decline
- Core CPI rose 1.8%, better than forecast
- Core Retail Sales fell -.4%, vs. prior -0.1%
- Capacity Utilization slipped to 78.4, vs. prior 79
- Initial Claims rose 12K to 294K
- Continuing Claims fell 40K, to 2268K
- Consumer Sentiment rose to 95.9, vs. prior 93.0
- Leading Indicators rose 0.2% in March, vs. prior 0.1%
Week Ahead Highlights:
Q1 Earnings season rolls on, with 13 DOW stocks, and over 25% of the S&P 500 stocks reporting.
Next Week’s Reports:
Sectors and Commodities:
Energy stocks led this week, as Industrials lagged.
(Check our our Market Data page for more details on financial news and data
Crude Oil and Natural Gas had big gains this week: