Rates move back down, China still main market driver
An announcement about an impeachment inquiry against President Trump did little to move the needle on Wall Street this week. Investors are betting on the Senate voting down the resolution thus causing a rally for stocks, much like what was seen in 1992 under President Clinton. For reference to the impeachment proceedings of Presidents Nixon and Clinton and how they affected the economy, check out this breakdown from MarketWatch.
When the announcement was made on Tuesday by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, there was a brief sell-off of stocks which caused a drop in the 10-year Treasury note yields. Once a memo was released detailing President Trump's conversation with Ukraine's President, stocks rallied while Treasury yields and the price of gold also went up.
The impeachment inquiry has not shown itself to be a major mover of the markets quite yet. Instead the market remains firmly focused on any move in the trade battle with China.
Other data out this week shows that consumer confidence is waning, showing its biggest drop in nine months according to The Conference Board. Analysts partly attribute the decline to the ongoing trade battle between the United States and China.
Home price gains have slowed significantly, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home-price index. Year-over-year, appreciation was just 2%, the slowest rate of price growth since 2012.
Meanwhile, new home sales have spiked, showing 7% gains month-over-month in August. The seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 713,000 is near a 12-year high that was reached in June 2019. The year-over-year growth is around 18% and due in large part to the much lower interest rates. This week's average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 3.64%, according to Freddie Mac. This same week in 2018 had an average rate of 4.72%.
