CSX led the way with a jump of $7.50, or 20.3 percent, to $44.39. RAIL RALLY: Railroad operators posted some of the biggest gains. REITs and utilities in the S&P 500 each fell 1.1 percent, tied for the biggest loss of the 11 sectors that make up the index. That hurts real-estate investment trusts and utilities, which carry some of the biggest dividend yields.
It has raised rates twice since 2015 after keeping them at record lows near zero since 2008.ĭIVIDEND DROPS: Higher yields may lure income investors back to bonds and away from high-dividend stocks. Developers began work on the most new homes and apartments since 2007.Ī stronger economy could sway the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates more quickly. The fewest number of workers sought unemployment claims last week in 43 years, a sign that corporate layoffs are subsiding.Ī separate report showed that homebuilders broke ground on more new homes in December, capping a solid 2016 for the industry. economy has been improving recently, and the latest on Thursday showed encouraging signs for the housing and labor markets. The 10-year yield is still below its perch above 2.60 percent that it reached in mid-December, but it’s well above the 2.09 percent yield it was at a year ago.
Yields have generally been climbing since Election Day on expectations that President-elect Donald Trump’s policies will spur more inflation and economic growth. YIELDS UP: Bond yields continued their march higher, and the 10-year Treasury yield rose to 2.47 percent from 2.43 percent late Wednesday.
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And the VIX index, which professional investors use to measure nervousness of the market, is still about 50 percent lower than where it was a year ago. The S&P 500 hasn’t had a day where it’s swung by 1 percent, either up or down, since early December. “The stock market seems to be perched like a tightrope walker, balanced on the center, but there are a couple hundred-pound weights on each end of the balancing pole,” says Rich Weiss, senior portfolio manager at American Century.Įven with all those uncertainties, the market has remained relatively calm. They’ve already seen the optimistic case, as shown in the nearly 6 percent jump for the S&P 500 since Donald Trump’s surprise victory of the White House, propelled by expectations for lower taxes and less regulation on businesses.īut on the possible downside, increased tariffs or trade restrictions could mean drops in profits for big U.S. Investors are waiting to see what a Donald Trump presidency will really mean for stocks. WALKING A TIGHTROPE: Stocks have slowed in 2017 following an electrifying jump higher since Election Day. The Nasdaq composite fell 23 points, or 0.4 percent, to 5,533.įour stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 11 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,260. That puts the Dow down 0.3 percent for the year, though it’s still within a good day or so of its record high, which was set in December. KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average fell 109 points, or 0.6 percent to 19,696 as of 2:20 p.m. NEW YORK (AP) - The Dow Jones industrial average erased its gain for the year on Thursday, part of a pullback for stock indexes as Treasury yields continued their upward march.