The mid-week rally was not enough to recoup the losses of Monday, Tuesday and the further decline on Friday in the US equity markets.  Continued concerns over the eurozone sovereign debt situation put pressure on US equity markets.  European equity markets declined for the week as well.  Despite a disappointing GDP report from China, Asian and Pacific Rim exchanges (ex-Japan) posted gains for the week.  The DJIA, the S&P 500 Index and NASDAQ all posted losses for the week marking the worst week for the US equity markets year-to-date.  The DJIA lost 1.6% to 12,850, the S&P 500 Index fell 2.0% to 1,370 and the NASDAQ slid 2.2% to 3,011. 

Trading on Monday began with the market reaction to the disappointing nonfarm payroll report released on Friday when US equity markets were closed for the holiday.  The report showed a 120,000 month-month increase for …

US Equity markets started the week in the green, but quickly retreated on Tuesday and through the rest of the holiday-shortened trading week.  The DJIA gained 52 points on Monday and the S&P gained 10 points to 1,419.  Tuesday through Thursday saw market declines culminating in a 152 point decline for the DJIA to 13,060 and an 11 point decline for the S&P 500 Index to 1,398.  

On Monday, investors were encouraged by a strong US manufacturing report.  The ISM Manufacturing Index rose to 53.4 in March, up from 52.4 in February and ahead of economists’ expectations of 53.  As a leading indicator, this report encouraged investors that economic activity is picking up.  

Minutes from the latest Fed meeting were released late Tuesday afternoon.  Chairman Bernanke noted that accommodative monetary policy is still necessary to bolster the US …

Boosting performance like we have not seen in more than a decade, the Dow Jones rose 8.1% to 13,212.04, the S&P 500 soared 12.0% to 1,408.47 and the NASDAQ flew 18.7% to 3,091.57, during the first quarter of 2012.  On the global front, the DAX jumped 17.8% to 6,946.83 and the Nikkei surged 19.3% to 10,083.56, during the 1Q12.  For the week, these markets turned in a mixed performance.  The primary fuel of this strong quarterly performance was most notably the batch of solid US economic data and the removal of a European collapse. 

However, there is still much global turmoil, reduced growth from China, Spain’s unemployment is close to 23%, sanctions on Iran and remember the US national debt is at about $15.6 trillion.  And what should be done to move Fannie and …

The global markets retreated on concerns about China, Spain and rising oil prices due to the situation with Iran. The broader markets were down almost across the board with the Dow Jones off 1.2% to 13,080.73, the S&P 500 decreased 0.5% to 1,397.11, the FTSE 100 dropped 1.9% to 5,854.89 and the Hang Seng fell 3.0% to 20,668.80.

The broader markets advanced Monday with the Dow Jones edged higher by 0.05% to 13,239.13, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 1,409.75 and the NASDAQ increased 0.8% to 3,078.32.   The National Association of Home Builders announced that homebuilder confidence in the market for new single-family homes was steady and the index held at 28.  The big news of the day was Apple, not out with …