- Alex Pettee, CFA
Record Week For Stocks On Easy Monetary Policy And Uptrend In Housing Data
US equity markets rallied to record highs on the week as investors cheered the dovish tack by the Federal Reserve, which indicated it’s ready to respond to softening global growth.
Geopolitical tensions heated up with Iran, sending crude oil prices surging more than 9% on the week. State-side, it was another week of “IPO Mania”.
Already pricing-in dovish monetary conditions, the recently high-flying REITs underperformed on the week despite a decline in the 10-year yield to the lowest weekly close since 2016.
Beginning to reflect the plunge in fixed mortgage rates this year, existing home sales and housing starts both exceeded estimates. Multifamily starts jumped to the highest monthly rate since 2016.
Single-family markets have yet to kick into high-gear, however, as homebuilder sentiment ticked lower in June. Homebuilders finished sharply lower on the week following a cluster of analyst downgrades.
