Stock Market Summary - Week Ending March 1, 2019

Stocks finished the week with mixed results but with little overall change from the prior week. The close of February showed the best-performing yearly two-month start of the S&P 500 since 1987. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) slid -5.52 points or -0.02% to close the week at 26,026.32 while the S&P 500 (SPX) added 10.93 points or 0.39% to close at 2,803.60. The Russell 2000 (RUT) dipped -0.42 points or -0.03% to close at 1,589.64 and the Nasdaq (COMP) gained 67.81 points or 0.90% to finish the week at 7,595.35. The S&P 100 (OEX) added 7.37 points or 0.60% to close at 1,232.43 and the VIX slipped upwards 0.44% to finish the week at 13.57. 

Corporate Gainers 

Gap Inc (GPS) soared 19.18% after the apparel company which owns Banana Republic, Old Navy, Hill City, and other retail chains announced that it will be splitting into two entities with Old Navy being separate and apart as a stand-alone retailer. 

Dentsply Sirona Inc (XRAY) jumped 18.02% after the dental products company reported 4th quarter 2018 revenue that exceeded expectations of $1.03 billion by coming in at $1.06 billion, plus it adjusted its outlook higher for 2019. 

Foot Locker (FL) gained 5.75% as both top and bottom line results showed a year-over-year increase in the 4th quarter fiscal 2018. 

Corporate Sliders 

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (WBA) dropped -5.42% as the company's pharmacy margins are showing some sluggishness attributed to inflation of generic drugs. 

Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) dipped -4.79% after the health technology company reported a loss of 57 cents per share for the 4th quarter 2018. 

Kroger Co (KR) slid -1.75% after the food giant announced plans to widen its ban on the acceptance of VISA cards, citing "excessive fees" as the reason for the action. 

Economic Indicators of Note 

Housing Starts for December 2018 were surprisingly weak, falling 11.2% to a rate of 1.078 million. 

International Trade in Goods for December 2018 shows a continuation in the trade gap expansion to -$79.5 billion. 

Crude oil supplies for the February 22nd week fell by 8.7 million barrels. Gasoline supplies dropped 1.9 million barrels and distillates fell 0.3 million barrels. 

GDP for Q4 2018 made a solid showing at 2.6% which was at the high end of the consensus range. 

Initial jobless claims for the February 23 week rose as expected by 8,000 to 225,000. Continuing claims in lagging data for the February 16 week were up 79,000 to 1.805 million. 

Personal income and outlays for December 2018 showed a 1.0% spike in personal income with a -0.05% decline in personal spending. 

The ISM Manufacturing Index for February shows a drop of 2.4 to 54.2. 

Upcoming Economic Events 
Market Movers: 
New Home Sales-Tuesday @ 10:00 a.m. ET 
International Trade in Goods-Wednesday @ 8:30 a.m. ET 
EIA Petroleum Status Report-Wednesday @ 10:30 a.m. ET 
Jobless Claims-Thursday @ 8:30 a.m. ET 
Employment Situation-Friday @ 8:30 a.m. ET 
Housing Starts-Friday @ 8:30 a.m. ET 

Events Worth Noting 
Construction Spending-Monday @ 10:00 a.m. ET 
ISM Non-Mfg Index-Tuesday @ 10:00 a.m. ET 
Treasury Budget-Tuesday @ 2:00 p.m. ET 
ADP Employmet Report-Wednesday @ 8:15 a.m. ET 
Beige Book-Wednesday @ 2:00 p.m. ET 
Productivity and Costs-Thursday @ 8:30 a.m. ET 
EIA Natural Gas Report-Thuresday @ 10:30 a.m. ET 
Fed Balance Sheet-Thuresday @ 4:30 p.m. ET 

Index Trading Levels For Week Ending 3/01/2019 
DJIA 26026.32 (Dow Jones) 
SPX 2803.60 (S&P 500) 
RUT 1589.64 (Russell 2000) 
COMP 7595.35 (Nasdaq) 
OEX 1232.43 (S&P 100) 
VIX 13.57 (CBOE)