The thirtieth trading week of 2014 comes to a close with US markets lower in the last hour.
Most actively traded stocks include Facebook (FB) up 0.11%, Sirius XM Holdings (SIRI) down 0.14%, Apple (AAPL) up 0.33%, and Ford (F) down 1.46%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down for the week, while the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ are both higher for the period.
Crude oil futures are lower this week, trading at $102.10 per barrel on Friday afternoon.
And Gold futures are also lower for the week, trading at $1302.35 an ounce.
In economic news, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased 0.3 percent in June on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 2.1 percent before seasonal adjustment. In contrast to the broad-based increase last month, the June seasonally adjusted increase in the all items index was primarily driven by the gasoline index. It rose 3.3 percent and accounted for two-thirds of the all items increase. Other energy indexes were mixed, with the electricity index rising, but the indexes for natural gas and fuel oil declining. The food index decelerated in June, rising only slightly, with the food at home index flat after recent increases.
In the week ending July 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 284,000, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since February 18, 2006 when they were 283,000. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 302,000 to 303,000. The 4-week moving average was 302,000, a decrease of 7,250 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since May 19, 2007 when it was 302,000. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 309,000 to 309,250.
Sales of new single-family houses in June 2014 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 406,000, according to estimates released jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 8.1 percent below the revised May rate of 442,000 and is 11.5 percent below the June 2013 estimate of 459,000. The median sales price of new houses sold in June 2014 was $273,500; the average sales price was $331,400. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of June was 197,000. This represents a supply of 5.8 months at the current sales rate.
