REIT Dividend Hikes • Jobless Claims Rise • Stocks Rebound

December 8, 2022 | Hoya Capital

REIT Dividend Hikes • Jobless Claims Rise • Stocks Rebound Real Estate Daily Recap Dec 8 Written By U.S. equity markets snapped a five-day skid Thursday after jobless claims data showed signs of further softening in labor markets while investors looked ahead of a closely-watched PPI report tomorrow. Trimming its week-to-date declines to roughly 2.5%, the S&P 500 advanced 0.8% today while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rebounded by 1.2%. Real estate equities were broadly higher today following another wave of REIT dividend hikes.

Equity REITs advanced 0.7% with 14-of-18 property sectors in positive territory while Mortgage REITs gained 0.6%. Four REITs hiked their dividends over the past 24 hours including CubeSmart (CUBE) and American Tower (AMT). Hotel REITs Park Hotels (PK) and Chatham Lodging (CLDT) each reinstated their dividends which were suspended since the pandemic. Continuing jobless claims rose to the highest levels since early February, posting the largest three-week increase since the depths of the pandemic in May 2020.

Unadjusted initial claims jumped by nearly 90k last week driven by large increases in California and New York. Income Builder Daily Recap U.S. equity markets snapped a five-day skid Thursday after jobless claims data showed signs of further softening in labor markets while investors looked ahead of a closely-watched Producer Price Index report on Friday. Trimming its week-to-date declines to roughly 2.5%, the S&P 500 advanced 0.8% today while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rebounded by 1.2%.

Real estate equities were broadly higher today following another wave of REIT dividend hikes. The Equity REIT Index advanced 0.7% with 14-of-18 property sectors in positive territory while the Mortgage REIT Index gained 0.6%. The Hoya Capital Housing Index continued its recent rebound after Freddie Mac data showed that the 30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rate fell for a fourth week to 6.33% - a full 75 basis points below its highs in early November of 7.08%.

Bonds snapped a two-day rally, however, despite employment data ...