Market Week: Jan. 30, 2012

Written by Ryan Sheppard | 30 January 2012

A rally in domestic equities in response to Wednesday's Fed announcement of plans to keep interest rates low couldn't be sustained through the rest of the week. The Nasdaq and small-cap Russell 2000 saw the bulk of the week's gains, demonstrating resilience in the face of uncertainty about Greece's talks with its bondholders. The Fed's announcement pushed intermediate-term Treasury yields down but had little effect on longer maturities.

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Market Week: Jan. 23, 2012

Written by Ryan Sheppard | 23 January 2012

Downgrades? What downgrades? Having just lowered its long-term ratings on nine eurozone sovereigns, Standard and Poor's downgraded the European Financial Stability Fund itself early last week. European equity markets responded with a four-day rally, choosing to focus instead on the renewed possibility of a deal on Greek debt, and strong bond sales by France and Spain. The rally petered out on Friday, however, as doubts about Greece began to creep back in. Domestically, equities reached six-month highs, with the S&P 500 and Dow Industrials gaining every day of the holiday-shortened week (and the Nasdaq just missing that feat with a 1.63 point loss on Friday). This third straight week of equity gains--fueled by bank earnings, encouraging economic news, and eurozone optimism--slowed, at least temporarily, the flow of funds to U.S. Treasuries, which finished the week with yields on benchmark 10-year notes rising back above the 2% level.

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