The KUIK Morning Market Report for Thursday, April 20:
Markets are up.
Index
Direction
Change
Units
Index
Time
Change
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Up
46
points
20,453
7:15 AM
S&P500
Up
0.4%
percent
2,347
8.83
Nasdaq Composite
Up
0.5%
percent
5,893
29.49
30 Year Treasury
Up
2
Basis Points
2.88
Annual Yield
The Philadelphia Fed reports its manufacturing index for April fell to 22.0 down from March’s 32.8. It hit a 33-year high of 43.3 in February. Any reading over zero indicates growth, and the bank called April’s reading “relatively high.” It was below expectations though, economists expected 25.5. New orders and shipments fell, but number of employees and average workweek both rose.
The Labor Department reports new claims for unemployment benefits rose by 10,000 to 244,000 last week. It has been below 300,000 for 111 straight weeks. Continuing claims fell by 49,000 to 1.98 million, for the second month in a row during the current eight-year economic expansion that they’ve been below 2 million.
Freddie Mac reports mortgage rates are down. The 30-year fixed averaged 3.97% this week down from last week’s 4.08%. A year ago it was 3.59%. The 15-year fixed averaged 3.23% down from 3.34%. A year ago it was 2.85%.
Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for 1360 KUIK.
