Last Week:
- U.S. equities finished mixed for the week: The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed 58 points lower, or fell 0.27%, to 21,580. The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) index gained 13 points, or rose 0.54%, to 2,473. The Nasdaq closed last week 1.19% higher at 6,388. While the DJIA ended down, all three indexes set new records during the week, helped by earnings strength.
- Global Central Banks: Last week, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced their decision to leave rates unchanged in July as widely expected. ECB President, Mario Draghi stuck to the script that the recovery still has plenty of room to run, but warned that stronger growth wasn’t translating into higher consumer prices. The Bank announced no changes to their bond-buying program (known as quantitative easing), which runs until the end of 2017. “Basically inflation is not where we want it to be and where it should be,” said Mario Draghi as he echoed a sentiment shared by other central banks, as they struggle to understand why inflation is not picking up in this growth environment.
Annual Inflation (%) in the Euro Area* & the European Union
Source: Eurostat 2017.
*Euro Area consists of The European Union (EU) excluding Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom
Look Ahead:
- Second quarter earnings season continues with results expected from DuPont, Coca-Cola, Altria, Procter & Gamble, Mastercard, Verizon, Exxon Mobil, and Chevron among others.
- Key reports/items for the upcoming week include, U.S. Existing Home sales, Eurozone Purchasing Managers Index (PMIs), U.S. Consumer Confidence, U.S. Home Prices, Eurozone M3 Money Supply and China Industrial Profits, among others. In addition, The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) ends its two-day meeting and issues a decision on interest rates and monetary policy in general on Wednesday.
