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The Markets (as of market close December 6, 2019)
Market performance was uneven last week, culminating in some of the benchmark indexes closing in the black while a few lost value by week's end. A strong jobs report and guarded optimism that progress will continue toward a resolution to the U.S./China trade war helped push stocks higher. The S&P 500 closed up less than 0.25%, while the small caps of the Russell 2000 gained over 0.50%. The Dow fell slightly, as did the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Year-to-date, the Nasdaq continues to lead the way, followed by the S&P 500, the Russell 2000, the Dow, and the Global Dow. Long-term government bond prices dipped pushing yields higher as investors were likely influenced by last week's robust labor numbers.
Oil prices rose last week, closing at $59.12 per barrel by late Friday afternoon, up from the prior week's price of $55.17. The price of gold (COMEX) inched lower last week, closing at $1,464.50 by late Friday afternoon, down from the prior week's price of $1,465.60. The national average retail regular gasoline price was $2.575 per gallon on December 2, 2019, $0.004 less than the prior week's price but $0.124 more than a year ago.
