U.S. market indexes were higher on Friday after valuations stabilized mostly to the upside following volatility from the Fed’s April meeting minutes and some improved economic data.
For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 65.54 points or 0.38% to close at 17,500.94. The Standard & Poor's 500 was also higher at 2,052.32 for a gain of 12.28 points or 0.60%. The Nasdaq Composite was higher at 4,769.56 for a gain of 57.03 points or 1.21%. The VIX Volatility Index was down at 15.23 for a loss of 1.10 points or 6.74%.
For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down -0.21%. The S&P 500 gained 0.27% and the Nasdaq Composite was higher with a gain of 1.10%.
On Friday, the Existing Home Sales Report from the National Association of Realtors showed further improvement in the housing market which has been greatly helping the economy overall. Existing home sales were higher by 1.7% for the month of April and reported a 6% increase for the year. The month’s report helped the seasonally adjusted annual rate of existing home sales improve to 5.45 million annualized, just above consensus of 5.4 million.
For the week, retail stocks continued to trade actively in the U.S. as challenges in the sector are ongoing. Department store stocks are broadly lower with weaker earnings and outlooks for the second half of the year. Consumer goods stores are benefiting from a rise in consumer spending however battles over ecommerce market share are greatly affecting profits. During the week, retailers Home Depot (HD, Financial), Lowe’s (LOW, Financial), Walmart (WMT, Financial) and Target (TGT, Financial) all reported earnings with Walmart leading share gains while Target led share price losses.
In a CNBC discussion Friday, retail market specialists provided insight on retail industry ecommerce and how it's affecting the competitive landscape in retail overall.
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