Market Update Report 12/26/2013

The KUIK Market Update for Thursday, December 26:
Markets are up.
Index Direction Change Units Last Time Change
Dow Up                     60 points           16,417 8:01 AM
S&P500 Up 0.26% percent             1,838             4.68
Nasdaq Composite Up 0.22% percent             4,164             9.07
30 Year Treasury Up                       2 Basis Points               3.92 Annual Yield
The Labor Department reports  initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 42,000 in the week that ended Dec. 21 to 338,000, below a consensus forecast of 345,000. This is the biggest drop since  November 2012. 
China’s banks are grappling with a surge of bad loans due to an economic slowdown. Non-performing loans in the wholesale and retail sector reached 2.6% — far above the banking industry average in 2013 — with information technology following at 2.0% and manufacturing at 1.8%, according to a study by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and reported by the China Daily on Thursday.
The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 4.48% in the week that ended Dec. 26 from 4.47% the  week before , according to Freddie Mac.  A year ago, the 30-year rate was at 3.35%. The average rate for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage increased to 3.52% from 3.51%.
Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for AM 1360 KUIK.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/weekly-jobless-claims-fall-by-most-in-a-year-2013-12-26
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-banks-see-bad-loan-surge-led-by-retail-trade-2013-12-25
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/30-year-mortgage-rate-ticks-up-to-448-2013-12-26-1091010
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