Last Week:
- U.S. equities finished positive for the week: The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed 139 points higher, or rose 0.64%, to 21,814. The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) index gained 17 points, or rose 0.72%, to 2,443. The Nasdaq closed last week 0.79% higher at 6,266.
- U.S. New Home Sales: Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced new home sales for the month of July plunged to the lowest level since December 2016. New single-family home sales fell 9.4% sequentially, and fell 8.9% compared to the same period last year to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 571,000. These July numbers were way below economists’ expectations of a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 610,000 units. Nonetheless, the median sale price of newly built houses sold in July jumped 6% year over year to $313,700.
Look Ahead:
- Key reports/items for the upcoming week include Consumer Confidence data (Aug), the second read of second-quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Personal Income and Spending reports (Jul), and the Chicago Purchasing Manager’s Index (Aug). The highlight of the week will be the July Jobs report – economists’ expectations stand at 175,000 jobs.
