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Summary
Monday Tee Up: Hello 2025! This will be another holiday-shortened week, as markets are closed on Wednesday for New Year’s Day. Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4%, the S&P 500 rose 0.7%, and Nasdaq was up 0.8%. Santa Claus has been nice to equity investors in 2024, but not so much in the final days of December. With just two trading days left in the year, the Dow is higher by 14%, the S&P is up 25%, and the Nasdaq has popped 31%. The new earnings season will kick off in mid-January with the big banks reporting first. For 2025, Argus forecasts 12% EPS growth for S&P 500 companies. This follows higher-than-expected 9% growth in 2024. On the economic calendar, there are only a few releases this week. On Tuesday, the Case-Shiller Home Price Index will be reported; on Thursday, Construction Spending; and on Friday, ISM Manufacturing. Argus Chief Economist Chris Graja’s Call of the Week is the ISM Manufacturing report, and he has offered the following thoughts. ‘We are looking for Friday’s report on Manufacturing New Orders to remain just above 50, signaling expansion. This is an important leading indicator and even modestly good news would be a welcomed sign for manufacturing — which hasn’t been pulling its weight in a strong consumer-driven economy.’ Mortgage rates went up 13 basis points (bps) last week, with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now at 6.85%, according to FreddieMac. The average price for regular gas held at $3.02 per gallon. The Atlanta Fed GDPNow i
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