REITs Rebound | Dividend Boosts | Jobless Claims Rise

August 20, 2020 | Hoya Capital

REITs Rebound | Dividend Boosts | Jobless Claims Rise Daily Recap Aug 20 Written By Daily Recap U.S. equity markets finished mixed Thursday led by a continued bid for large-cap technology stocks as employment data this morning presented an uncertain picture for the state of the economic rebound. Pushing its gains to 0.4% this week, the S&P 500 finished higher by 0.3% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped a three-day losing streak with gains of 47 points.

After retreating by 1.8% yesterday, Equity REIT ETFs finished higher by 1.0% today with 16 of 18 property sectors finishing in positive territory. Mortgage REITs finished flat. Initial Jobless claims jumped back above one million last week, but Continuing Claims continue to decline rapidly. Since its peak, Continuing Claims have now declined by more than 10 million. Two REITs raised dividends today while troubled mall REIT CBL & Associates (CBL), student housing REIT American Campus (ACC), and small-cap REIT Postal Realty (PSTL) continue to be in focus.

U.S. equity markets finished mixed Thursday led by a continued bid for large-cap technology stocks as employment data this morning presented an uncertain picture for the state of the economic rebound. Pushing its gains to 0.4% so far this week, the S&P 500 ETF ( SPY ) finished higher by 0.3% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ( DJI ) snapped a three-day losing streak with gains of 47 points with the Nasdaq 100 ETF ( QQQ ) jumped 1.4%.

After retreating by 1.8% yesterday, the Equity REIT ETF ( VNQ ) finished higher by 1.0% today with 16 of 18 property sectors finishing in positive territory. The Mortgage REIT ETF ( REM ) finished flat after gaining 0.1% yesterday. It was a particularly "top-heavy" day of performance with the S&P 500 gaining ground despite just 3 of the 11 GICS sectors finishing in positive territory: Technology ( XLK ), Communications ( XLC ), and ...