Daily Recap: Stocks Pause | REITs Gain | Millennials Buying Homes

October 29, 2019 | Hoya Capital

Daily Recap: Stocks Pause | REITs Gain | Millennials Buying Homes Uncategorized Oct 29 Written By After setting new all-time closing highs yesterday, the S&P 500 ETF ( SPY ) took a breather today, ending the day lower by 0.1% on another jam-packed day of economic data and earnings. Housing data was better-than-expected this morning with solid pending home sales data and encouraging homeownership data that showed that millennial ownership rates (<35 years old) jumped to the highest level since 2011.

Weaker-than-expected results from Alphabet ( GOOG ) weighed on tech-focused indexes as the Nasdaq ETF ( QQQ ) was down by 0.8% on the day. Real estate equities were generally higher on the day as the busiest week of real estate earnings season kicks into high gear. The broad-based REIT ETF ( VNQ ) ended the day higher by 0.2%, led to the upside by the timber, healthcare, and storage REIT sectors while the student housing, mall, and hotel sectors lagged.

The 10-year Treasury Yield ( IEF ) ticked lower by 2 basis points, closing at 1.84%, which remains near the upper end of the three-month range. The Hoya Capital Housing Index , the benchmark that tracks the performance of the US housing industry, finished the day lower by 0.3% on softness from the home improvement retail and real estate technology brokerage sectors. Home building products firms Leggett & Platt ( LEG ) and Simpson Manufacturing ( SSD ) led the way following strong earnings results yesterday afternoon.

Senior housing REIT Welltower ( WELL ) delivered a strong day after better-than-expected results yesterday afternoon, a welcome relief after a worrisome report from senior housing peer Ventas ( VTR ) last week. On the earnings slate among US Housing Index components this afternoon is single-family rental operator Invitation Homes ( INVH ), apartment owner UDR ( UDR ), self-storage operators Public Storage ( PSA ) and ExtraSpace ( EXR ), ...