Weekly Market Wrap: 8/27/10
Friday, August 27, 5:12 PM ET

Hi. I’m SAYOKO MURASE. Welcome to the “Weekly Market Wrap” for Friday, August 27, 2010.

U.S. equities ended lower for the week.

Crude oil futures are flat for the week despite volatility, trading around $74.30 a barrel on Friday afternoon.

Gold got a lift this week on safe-haven buying, with spot gold selling for $1,236 an ounce mid-day on Friday.

On the economic front, existing home sales for July were sharply lower, dropping 27.2 percent to an annual rate of 3.83 million, the lowest since the data were first collected in 1999. The consensus number for the Tuesday release was 4.65 million.

New home sales for July were released on Wednesday showing a decrease of 12.4 percent to an annual rate of 276,000, the lowest level since 1963. Forecasters were expecting an annualized 340,000 number.

Also on Wednesday, new orders for durable goods rose less than expected in July, coming in at 0.3 percent on expectations of 2.8 percent growth.

The latest revised GDP growth number shows that economic activity for the second quarter was lowered from an initial estimate of 2.4 percent to 1.6 percent on Friday. The consensus estimate was a 1.3 percent growth rate.

Also on Friday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said at the annual Jackson Hole meeting for central bankers that the Fed would not sit by and let the U.S. economy fall into deflation. On the other hand, Mr. Bernanke also indicated that the cost of more monetary stimulus might outweigh the benefits.

On the earnings front, Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) posted second quarter profits on Tuesday of 80 cents per share against a consensus estimate of 81 cents.

Burger King (NYSE:BKC) beat estimates on Tuesday with an adjusted 36 cents per share in earnings. Analysts were expecting 34 cents per share in earnings.

Home builder Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) surprised analysts on Wednesday, showing a profit of 16 cents per share. Forecasters were expecting minus 14 cents.

Also on Wednesday, telecommunications manufacturer JDS Uniphase (NASDAQ:JDSU) posted profits of 15 cents per share, beating analyst expectations of 14 cents.

Ship Finance (NYSE:SFL) reported earnings on Thursday of 63 cents per share, beating expectations of 58 cents.

Oil tanker company Frontline (NYSE:FRO) handily beat the street on Thursday after reported earnings of $1.04 per share against expectations of 67 cents per share.

And on Friday, jewelry retailer Tiffany (NYSE:TIF) posted profits of 53 cents per share, in-line with the consensus forecast.

This is the “Weekly Market Wrap” for Friday, August 27.

Please join us on Monday for the “Week Ahead Market Report.”