US Stocks Week Ended February 1, 2013

Bob Carey
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US Stocks Week Ended February 1, 2013

Posted Under: Weekly Market Commentary

Last week, the S&P 500 Index had positive performance with a 0.72% return. It was the fifth straight week of positive returns for the index. The index hasn't produced a negative week in 2013 and has returned 6.24% YTD. After eight straight positive trading days, the index closed down 18 basis points on Monday. Tuesday brought several positive earnings reports which helped push the market up 0.52% for the day. Wednesday closed down as the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) issued a statement that economic growth has stalled which was confirmed by the 0.1% contraction in output represented in the fourth quarter GDP numbers. Thursday closed down also as US initial jobless claims came in higher than expected at 368K. That was a big jump from the previous week's number of 330K and more than the consensus of 350K. Friday, however brought positive employment data that helped the market show a very strong day with a 1.01% return and put the index back in positive territory for the week. Non-Farm Payrolls showed another hiring increase with 157,000 payrolls added in January, following two very strong months in December and November. Eight of the ten economic sectors had positive performance for the week. The telecommunication services sector was the best performing sector with a 3.61% return. Utilities and information technology sectors followed with 1.21% and 1.20% returns, respectively. Consumer discretionary's -0.90% return was the worst performance of all the sectors and was followed by materials and industrials which returned -0.65% and 0.08% respectively. Valero Energy Corp, an independent petroleum refining and marketing company, turned in the best performance in the S&P 500 Index with a 17.72% gain. The next two best performers were Hess Corp and Pitney Bowes Inc. with returns of 15.81% and 13.74% respectively. This week will bring earnings news from several companies such as Philip Morris International Inc., Visa Inc., The Walt Disney Co., News Corp, CVS Caremark Corp, Time Warner Inc., Anadarko Petroleum Corp, Automatic Data Processing Inc., Kraft Foods Group Inc., Prudential Financial Inc., The Allstate Corp, and many more.

Posted on Monday, February 4, 2013 @ 9:15 AM • Post Link	Share:
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These posts were prepared by First Trust Advisors L.P., and reflect the current opinion of the authors. They are based upon sources and data believed to be accurate and reliable. Opinions and forward looking statements expressed are subject to change without notice. This information does not constitute a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any security.

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