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Stock markets finished the week higher – Investors teetered between optimism and pessimism this week. On the positive, COVID-19 vaccine injections began in the U.S. A second vaccine from Moderna gained unanimous approval from the FDA advisory panel and is awaiting full FDA approval which is expected imminently. That will add millions of vaccine doses which is expected to speed up the process for more of the population to get vaccinated sooner. A $900 billion stimulus package has moved closer to approval. It’s expected to be approved over the weekend. At the same time, COVID cases are spiking out of control. Many hospitals are out of beds, or nearly out of beds. States and cities are taking further action to keep people home causing businesses across the country to close. New unemployment claims rose by almost 900 thousand last week. With vaccinations a reality, and a new stimulus package in the works the stock markets had a positive week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 30,179.05, up 0.4% from 30,046.26 last week. It’s up 5.8% year-to-date.
The S&P 500 closed the week at 3,709.41, up 1.3% from 3,663.46 last week. It is up 14.7% year-to-date.
The NASDAQ closed the week at 12,755.64, up 3% from 12,377.87 last week. It’s up 32.0% year-to-date.
U.S. Treasury bond yields - The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 0.95%, up from 0.90% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 1.70%, up from 1.63% last week. We watch bond yields because mortgage rates often follow treasury bond yields.