Weekly Market Wrap: 8/13/2010
Friday, August 13, 4:53 PM ET

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Equity markets closed lower for the week.

Crude oil futures dropped sharply for the week, trading just under $76 a barrel on Friday afternoon.

Gold futures were spurred higher by rising safe-haven investor demand for the week, selling for $1,215 an ounce on Friday. On Wednesday, analysts at Goldman Sachs said gold could rally to $1,300 an ounce this year.

On the economic front, the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee indicated they would reinvest its holdings of maturing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt into long-term Treasuries on Tuesday. The Fed cited a weakening economy as the reason for the policy change. Observers expect the Fed to take additional steps to avoid deflation.

On Thursday, initial jobless claims came in higher than forecast, with 484,000 people filing. Expectations were for 460,000 new unemployment claims for the week of August 7th.

On Friday, the July consumer price index was in-line with expectations of a 0.3 percent change.

Retail sales disappointed investors, climbing 0.4 percent for July, with expectations of a 0.5 percent gain for the month. Nevertheless, this was a positive trend change, following negative retail sales growth in May and June. Retailers JC Penney (NYSE:JCP) and Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) lowered profit forecasts for the second half of 2010.

On the earnings front, theme park giant Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) posted profits of 67 cents per share on Tuesday. Analysts were expecting 59 cents.

Jaguar Mining (NYSE:JAG) disappointed investors with zero earnings reported for the second quarter, dropping shares 22 percent on Tuesday. Analysts had forecast 6 cents per share.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) reported results on Wednesday of 43 cents per share. Analysts were expecting 42 cents.

Department store Macy’s (NYSE:M) posted earnings per share of 35 cents on Wednesday, beating analyst estimates of 28 cents.

Kohl’s beat the street as well, posting earnings per share of 84 cents on expectations of 81 cents per share.

Also on Thursday, Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) reported second quarter earnings per share of 66 cents, in-line with analyst estimates.

Chinese silver miner Silvercorp Metals (NYSE:SVM) reported 9 cents per share in earnings on Thursday, on expectations of 8 cents per share.

On Friday, retailer JC Penney posted earnings per share of 6 cents, in-line with consensus estimates.

This is the “Weekly Market Wrap” for Friday, August 13. Please join us on Monday for the “Week Ahead Market Report.”