Weekly Market Wrap: 8/20/2010
Friday, August 20, 4:01 PM ET

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Hi. I’m SAYOKO MURASE. Welcome to the “Weekly Market Wrap” for Friday, August 20, 2010.

Equity markets jumped higher mid-week and fell back on Thursday and Friday.

Crude oil futures dropped for the week, trading around $73.33 a barrel on Friday afternoon.

Gold futures were higher for the week, selling for $1,227 an ounce on Friday.

On the economic front, housing starts for July showed new housing construction recording a 546,000 annual rate, falling below the 565,000 forecast.

Industrial production numbers for July were also released on Tuesday coming in 1 percent higher over June, beating expectations of a 0.6 percent change.

On Thursday, initial jobless claims came in much higher than expected at 500,000, driving equities lower. Economists had forecast 480,000 new unemployment claims for the week of August 14th.

Also on Thursday, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve factory index reported a disappointing and surprising contraction of minus 7.7 on expectations of a positive 7 index level.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE:POT) is considering other partnerships to counter BHP Billiton's (NYSE:BHP) hostile $38.6 billion bid for the fertilizer producer. The Potash Board of Directors rejected BHP’s takeover bid earlier in the week.

On the earnings front, Lowes’s (NYSE:LOW) said on Monday morning its second quarter earnings were 58 cents per share. Analysts were expecting 59 cents.

Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) posted second quarter profits of 97 cents on Tuesday, in-line with consensus estimates.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) also reported results on Tuesday, coming in at 72 cents per share in earnings. Analysts were expecting 71 cents per share.

Department store Target (NYSE:TGT) reported quarterly earnings of 92 cents per share on Wednesday, in-line with consensus estimates.

Also on Wednesday morning, equipment manufacturer Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) posted profits of $1.44 per share, beating the street estimate of $1.22.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) reported earnings on Thursday of $1.07 per share, in-line with expectations.

Also on Thursday, Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) reported second quarter earnings of 32 cents, ex-items. Analysts were expecting 30 cents per share.

Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ) reported earnings on Thursday of $1.08 per share, ex-items. The number was in-line with consensus expectations.

This is the “Weekly Market Wrap” for Friday, August 20. Please join us on Monday for the “Week Ahead Market Report.”