What happened in the U.S markets in the last week?

On Friday (November 14, 2014), the U.S stock markets were mixed.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell by 0.10%, to 17,635; the S&P 500 (SPX) increased by 0.02%, to 2,040; the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) rose by 0.18%, to 4,689.

On weekly basis, DJIA increased by 60.81 points or 0.4%; S&P 500 increased by 7.9 points or 0.4%; Nasdaq Composite rose by 56.01 points or 1.2%.

On the year-to-date basis, DJIA increased by 6.38%, S&P 500 rose by 10.36%, and Nasdaq Composite increased by 12.26%.

Last week, investors focused on the following U.S economic data;

• US weekly initial jobless claims rose by 12.000 to 290.000, which is higher than the estimate of 280.000. The four-week moving average fell to 285.000, the highest level for the last five weeks.

• Retail sales rose by 0.3% in October. The consensus was 0.2% increase. In September, retail sales had allen by 0.3%. Falling gas prices led the increase.

• Consumer sentiment rose to 89.4 from previous month’s 86.9. The estimate was 87.5.