Markets anemic Thursday
NEW YORK, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. markets slid Thursday despite a surprise jump in durable goods orders in December.
Orders rose 3 percent over November, the Commerce Department said.
Falling short of expectations, the Labor Department said initial unemployment benefit claims rose sharply in the week ending Saturday.
First-time claims, which have been trending lower, rose by 21,000 to 377,000 in the week.
By close of trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 22.33 points, 0.18 percent, to 12,734.63. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 7.62 points, 0.57 percent, to 1,318.43. The Nasdaq composite index shed 13.03 points, 0.46 percent, to 2,805.28.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,492 stocks advanced and 1,543 declined on a volume of 4.3 billion shares traded.
The benchmark 10-year treasury note rose 20/32 to yield 1.931 percent.
The euro fell to $1.31 from Wednesday's $1.3106. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 77.43 yen from Tuesday's 77.78 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index lost 0.39 percent, 34.22, to 8,849.47.
In London, the FTSE 100 index rose 1.26 percent, 77.20, to 5,795.20.
Economic pain stronger for U.S. Hispanics
WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Data backs up the belief among U.S. Latinos that they've been hurt more by the economic downturn than other groups, researchers said.
Fifty-four percent of Latinos say they believe that the economic downturn that began in 2007 has been harder on them than on other Americans, the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, said Thursday.
The national survey of 1,220 Hispanic adults was conducted Nov. 9 through Dec. 7, 2011.
In an analysis of government data, the Pew Hispanic Center found that median household wealth among Hispanics from 2005 through 2009 fell 66 percent. Among whites, the median household wealth dropped 16 percent and among blacks it fell 53 percent, the study found.
Unemployment among Latinos was 6.3 percent in December 2007, at the beginning of the so-called Great Recession and 11 percent in December 2011. Among all groups unemployment rose from 5 percent to 8.5 percent in the same period.
In the survey, 59 percent of Latinos indicated that someone in their household had been out of work and looking for a job in the past 12 months. Among the general population 51 percent indicated their household was hit with the same predicament.
This makes it difficult to explain the optimism among Hispanics, researchers said.
Sixty-seven percent of Latino respondents indicated they expected their personal financial situation to improve in the next 12 months. Among the population at large, 48 percent indicated an expectation of improvement.
U.S. leading indicators rose in December
NEW YORK, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- The U.S. index of leading economic indicators rose 0.4 percent in December, the Conference Board said Thursday.
The Leading Economic Index, which has risen for the past seven months, climbed in December to 94.3, the Conference Board said.
Economists had predicted a 0.7 percent rise based on steady gains in manufacturing, retail and employment.
The index is, essentially, a comparison to 2004, the year the Conference Board assigns a level of 100.
In December, "the gain was widespread among the leading indicators, suggesting economic conditions should improve in early 2012," said Conference Board economist Ataman Ozyildirim.
While the diffuse index made gains, component indexes of consumer expectations and weak credit conditions held the gains in check, Ozyildirim said.
Mortgage rates pull away from record lows
WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Average fixed mortgage interest rates for 30-year contracts rose from record lows in the week, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said Thursday.
Rates for 30-year contracts rose from 3.88 percent with 0.7 points to 3.98 percent after setting record lows for three consecutive weeks.
A year earlier, 30-year mortgage rates averaged 4.8 percent.
The 15-year fixed rate in the week rose from 3.17 percent to 3.24 percent with 0.7 points. In the same week of 2011 the average rate for 15-year loans stood at 4.09 percent.
Five-year adjustable rate mortgages averaged 2.85 percent for the week with an average 0.7 point, up from 2.82 in the previous week, but down from 3.7 percent in the same week a year earlier.
One-year Treasury-indexed adjustable rate mortgages were unchanged in the week, holding steady at 2.74 percent with 0.6 points.
Mortgage rates "ticked up this week as the housing market ended 2011 on a high note," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist.
"New construction of one-family homes rose 4.4 percent in December to an annualized rate of 470,000, the most since April 2010. Existing home sales increased 5 percent at the end of the year to 4.61 million houses, the largest amount since May 2010," he said.
In addition, pending home sales in November and December rose to levels not seen since March and April 2010, he said.
