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US markets closed higher; snaps two-day losing streak

28 Dec 2017 Evaluate

The US markets closed slightly higher on Wednesday, with major indexes halting a two-day skid, although trading activity was subdued as investors found few fresh catalysts in what is typically one of the lowest-volume weeks of the year. The US traded in tight ranges with investors likely to remain on vacation until after the New Year’s holiday on Monday. Stocks are on track to close out December with yet another positive month - possibly marking the first time global stocks have risen in every month of a calendar year - as well as strong gains for 2017 overall. Separately, a recent private poll of 51 wealth managers in the US, Europe, the UK and Japan showed that two-thirds agreed that the Fed will hike interest rates three times. Fed fund futures currently price in the odds of reaching the 2.00%-2.25% range by December 2018 at only about 37%.

On the economy front, pending-home sales ticked up 0.2% in November. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said that its index of pending home sales tracks real-estate transactions in which a contract has been signed, but the deal hasn’t closed. The index reading was 109.5, where 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001. That is 0.8% higher than a year ago.  The housing market’s biggest headwind remains extremely lean levels of inventory available for sale. In November, NAR said there were 3.4 months’ worth of homes for sale, the lowest on record back to 1999.

However, consumer confidence fell in December, a month after hitting a 17-year high, but the level of optimism among Americans this year was the highest since 2000. The index slipped to 122.1 this month from a revised 128.6 in November. Americans were a little less confident in their outlook for jobs and business conditions. An index that measures future conditions dipped to 99.1 from 111. Consumers were more cheery about conditions right now. The present situation index edged up to 156.6 from 154.9 and reached the highest level since 2001.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 28.09 points or 0.11 percent to 24,774.30 and the Nasdaq gained 3.087 points or 0.04 percent to 6,939.34, and the S&P 500 edged higher by 2.12 points or 0.08 percent to 2,682.62.

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MoneyWorks4Me is a SEBI-registered Investment Adviser (IA) dedicated to helping investors build long-term wealth through transparent, research-driven, conflict-free guidance. Founded in 2008, we started our journey as a Research Analyst (RA), providing deep fundamental analysis, intrinsic value insights, and long-term investing frameworks for Indian equities. In 2017, we transitioned to a full-fledged SEBI-registered Investment Adviser, strengthening our commitment to acting as a fiduciary—always putting the investor’s interest first.

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