Stock Market News For Jan 20, 2020
Zacks Investment Research | Jan 19, 2020 09:31PM ET
Benchmarks closed in the green on Friday, and ended the week at record highs banking on strong economic data and solid fourth-quarter earnings results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 50.50 points or 0.2%, to close at 29,348.10 and the S&P 500 rose 12.81 points or 0.4% to close at of 3,329.62. While, the Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 9,388.94, adding 31.81 points or 0.3%. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) decreased 1.8% to close at 12.10. Advancing issues outnumbered declining one for a 1.37-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.26-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq favored advancers.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
Major benchmarks hit intra-day record highs on Friday. Investors sentiments were lifted by news from China. The economic giant reported that industrial data for December topped expectations, with production rising 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Additionally, the Chinese economy grew by 6.1% in 2019, matching expectations. However, it is the slowest growth rate for the Chinese economy since 1990.
Overall, the S&P index recorded 104 new 52-week highs whereas no new lows. And the Nasdaq recorded 156 new highs and six new lows.
December’s New-Home Construction 13-year High
On Jan 17, the Commerce Department reported that construction of new homes grew by 16.9% at an annual rate of 1.608 million in December, beating the consensus estimate of 1.374 million. The figure is a 13-year high and 40.8% more than the December 2018 rate of 1.142 million and 2.6% above the November’s revised figure of 1.375 million.
In fact, low mortgage rates, a 50-year low unemployment rate and robust American consumers have helped the housing space to boom. Major cities in the United States like Raleigh, Nashville, Charlotte, Denver and Austin experienced stronger inbound moves compared to the previous year due to lower housing costs and increased job opportunities.
Single-family home construction increased by 11.2%, hitting its highest level since 2007 and rose substantially in the Midwest and South. While multifamily homes like condos and complexes jumped 29.8%, the highest since 1986.
However, building permits for privately-owned homes were authorized at a rate of 1,416,000 below the consensus estimate of 1,469,000. The headwind obstructing the increase in building permits was largely driven by a 11% decrease in authorizations for multifamily housing developments. (Zacks Investment Research
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