U.S. Markets End Week in the Green
Claman on Call: FBN’s Liz Claman with an after-hours web exclusive on the markets, oil and gold prices and the reopening of the U.S. embassy in Cuba.
It has been quite the week for the markets and after a tumultuous few days, all the major indices managed to close out the day and the week in the green. Much of this helped along by a string of upbeat economic reports including a solid industrial production report and slightly higher-than-expected report on inflation, indicating some companies are starting to see pricing power.
No power to oil prices -- in fact, oil lost altitude, flirting with seven-year lows early in the session. At the oil market's close, a tiny bounce but still, at $42.50 a barrel, oil ended up falling more than 3% this week, its seventh straight weekly loss.
Unlike oil, gold showed some sparkle this week. While falling Friday by about 3%, gold gained 1.7% over five days. The yellow metal showed its biggest monthly gain in two months.
For the first time in 54 years, the American flag is flying in Cuba, marking the beginning of a new relationship between the U.S. and Cuba.
Some shrewd business owners have been planning for months, if not years, for this historic day including Brian Hall, president of CubaKat, a ferry service that will take people between Cuba and Florida. It is the first company to have a permit to work with the Cuban government, but, just when will he get his license to start operations? He says he will charge $338 round trip.
Big economic news to gear up for next week: Monday we have the Empire State Manufacturing Survey and Housing Market Index, which leads into Tuesday's Housing Starts. Wednesday, Consumer Price Index and the FOMC minutes will be released. Thursday is Existing Home Sales and Friday the PMI Manufacturing Index is released.