Economic update for the week ending April 27, 2019

Economic update for the week ending April 27, 2019

NASDAQ and S&P 500 closed the week at all time record highs -Strong corporate earnings, lower interest rates, and an easing of trade tensions encouraged investors who pushed stocks to record highs. A strong first quarter GDP report released Friday showed that the economy grew 3.2% in the first quarter of 2019, its best first quarter showing in six years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 26,543.33, down 0.1% from 26,559.54 last week.   It’s up 13.8% year to date. The S&P 500 closed the week at 2,938.88, up 1.2% from 2,905.03 last week. It is up 17.3% year to date. The NASDAQ closed the week at 8,146.40, up 1.9% from 7,998.06 last week.  The NASDAQ is up 22.8% year to date. 

Treasury Bond Yields lower this week - The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 2.51%, down from 2.57% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 2.92%, down from 2.96% last week. We watch treasury bond yields because mortgage rates follow bond yield yields. 

Mortgage rates almost unchanged this week - The April 25, 2019 Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate average was 4.20%, up slightly from 4.17% last week. The 15-year fixed was 3.64%, up slightlyfrom 3.62% last week. The 5-year ARM was 3.77%, almost unchanged from 3.78% last week.​

March U.S. existing home sales report - The National Association of Realtors reported that the total number of existing home sales dropped 5.4% year over year from the number of sales last March. The median sales price increased 3.8% year over year. Inventory levels were up 2.4% from the number of homes for sale last March. The unsold inventory level represented a 3.9 month supply of homes for sale, up from a 3.6 month supply one year ago. 


Author, 

Syd Leibovitch