All the news you need to stay informed about what’s currently driving the market – courtesy of Raffa Wealth Management, LLC.
US stocks surged on the solid jobs report to end the week. The Dow posted it second best day of the year gaining 1.4% and rose 0.9% for the week. The S&P 500 added 1.3% on Friday and gained 0.8% for the week. Japanese stocks dropped 6.5% over the week as country’s stock market continues to retreat after its months long surge and Europe sank 1.8%. On the positive jobs news the 10 year Treasury rose to 2.16%.
Job growth continues to be slow and steady as employers added 175,000 jobs in May mostly in line with expectations. However, the report wasn’t so strong that it is likely to change the Fed’s course of buying $85 billion in bonds a month. The unemployment rate ticked up to 7.6% as more job seekers entered the workforce.
The Fed is expected to indicate after their next meeting later in June that they will begin to ease their bond buying program later this year.
Thirty year mortgage rates have jumped at the prospect of the Fed’s bond buying program subsiding. The average 30 year rate has risen to 3.81%, its highest level since May 2012.
US auto sales rose in May but the rally in car sales has shown sings on plateauing.
US manufacturing contracted in May having their worst month since the end of the recession. Europe’s manufacturing also contracted for the 22nd straight month and even stalwart Germany sank for the third month in a row.
The ECB took no new steps at the conclusion of its most recent meeting, but lowered its forecast for growth for the year.
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