The Finance Club hopes you enjoyed Good Friday and Easter.
To start off this week’s market update, let’s review the major indices.
The market made slight gains across the board this past week. Last Friday was Good Friday, so the market ended Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average started the week off at 17,727.48 and finished the following Monday at 17,880.85. The S&P 500 started off at 2,064.11 on Monday, and increased to end the week at 2,080.62. However, the NASDAQ ended the week at 4,917.32 after starting Monday off at 4,921.78. The VIX ended at 14.74 today. The major indices were actually down to begin last week, but rallied through Wednesday, Thursday, and Monday for a strong finish.
After a horrendous week, the major SPDR sectors, for the most part, bounced back this past week. XLY (Consumer Discretionary) increased by 1.56% to end the week at 76.05. XLP (Consumer Staples) was up 1.49% to finish at 49.52. XLE (Energy) also fared well, increasing by 0.90% to end the week off at 79.12. XLF (Financial) increased by 1.04% this past week to end today at 24.25. XLV (Health Care) had a bad week as continued to plunge. It dropped by 0.73% to finish off at 72.10. XLI (Industrials) increased by 0.16% to end at 55.85. XLB (Materials) gained 0.70% and ended the week at 46.36. XLK (Technology) experienced a 0.07% gain to end the week at 41.77. Finally, XLU (Utilities) did the best this past week. It increased by 2.13% to finish at 45.17 on the week.
Major Foreign Exchange Rates (as of 4/6/15):
- USD/EUR: 0.911
- USD/JPY: 119.36
- USD/CNY: 6.17
- USD/DEM: 1.79
Major Commodities (as of 4/6/15):
- Gold: $1,218.60/troy ounce
- Oil (light crude): $52.14/barrel
- Silver: $17.11/troy ounce
- Platinum: $1,180.40/troy ounce
- Corn: $3.85/bushel
- Sugar: $0.1674/pound
Here are some major upcoming earnings reports (via NASDAQ):
- Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, INC. (PLAY)
- Tuesday, April 7 (Pre-Market)
- Estimated EPS: $0.3
- Schnitzer Steel Industries, INC. (SCHN)
- Tuesday, April 7 (Pre-Market)
- Estimated EPS: -$0.08
- Bed, Bath, & Beyond INC. (BBBY)
- Wednesday, April 8 (After hours)
- Estimated EPS: $1.81
- Pier 1 Imports, INC (PIR)
- Wednesday, April 8 (After hours)
- EPS: $0.36
- Rite Aid Corporation (RAD)
- Wednesday, April 8 (Pre-Market)
- EPS: $0.07
- Ruby Tuesday, INC (RT)
- Thursday, April 9 (After hours)
- EPS: -$0.06
- Walgreens Boots Alliance, INC (WBS)
- Thursday, April 9 (Pre-Market)
- EPS: $0.94