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Business Saturday 23 January 2021
Mixed finish on Wall Street as worldwide rally takes a pause

AP Business Writers will lead to a powerful eco-
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS nomic recovery later this
UPDATE. AP's earlier story year as daily life gets closer
follows below. to normal. Hopes are also
Wall Street is tapping the high that Washington will
brakes on its record-setting deliver another dose of
rally this week, as markets stimulus for the economy
worldwide take a pause on now that the White House
Friday. and both houses of Con-
The S&P 500 was 0.1% lower gress are under single con-
in afternoon trading, a day trol of the Democrats.
after inching up to its sec- President Joe Biden has
ond straight all-time high. proposed a $1.9 trillion
The Dow Jones Industrial plan to send $1,400 to most
Average was down 119 Americans and deliver oth-
points, or 0.4%, at 31,057, as er stimulus for the econo-
of 2:57 p.m. Eastern time, my. But his party holds only
and the Nasdaq compos- the slimmest possible ma-
ite was up 0.1%. jority in the Senate, raising
The modest losses for glob- doubts about how much
al markets started early in can be approved. Several
Asia and then carried west- Republicans have already
ward amid worries about voiced opposition to parts
resurgent coronavirus cas- In this photo provided by the New York Stock Exchange, traders work on the floor during the of the plan.
es in China and weak eco- United Wholesale Mortgage IPO, Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. The coronavirus pandemic
nomic data from Europe. Associated Press is also worsening and do-
In the United States, disap- ing more damage to the
pointing earnings reports you'll see a surge in corpo- the end of 2020 than Wall Bank. economy by the day. In Eu-
from IBM and some other rate profits this year and Street expected. That's Seagate Technology fell rope, a survey of purchas-
companies gave cover for the Fed made very clear been the big theme so far 5.2% despite joining that ing managers showed on
investors to sell and book they're not going to take in the early part of this earn- cavalcade of companies Friday that activity in the
profits after big recent the punch bowl away any- ings season, with about reporting better earnings manufacturing and ser-
gains. The S&P 500 is still time soon." 13% of companies in the than expected. It also gave vices sectors shrank during
on pace to climb 2.1% this IBM dropped 9.9% for one S&P 500 having reported. a forecast for revenue and January in the 19-country
week, its third weekly gain of the market's sharpest With bank and some other profit in the current quarter eurozone. The data sug-
in four. losses after reporting weak- industries leading the way, that matched or topped gests the eurozone's econ-
"The big picture is, it's still er revenue for the last three profit reports have consis- Wall Street's. Analysts said omy may contract again
a pretty friendly environ- months of 2020 than ana- tently come in better than a lot of that optimism may this quarter.
ment for stocks," said David lysts expected. The tech Wall Street had feared. have already been built In European stock markets,
Lefkowitz, head of Ameri- giant's revenue has been "Earnings have been spec- into the stock's price. France's CAC 40 fell 0.6%,
cas equities at UBS Global mostly shrinking for years. tacular," said David Lyon, Markets have been mostly and Germany's DAX lost
Wealth Management. "The IBM nevertheless also re- global investment special- rallying recently on hopes 0.2%. The FTSE 100 in Lon-
pandemic will wind down, ported a higher profit for ist at J.P. Morgan Private that COVID-19 vaccines don dropped 0.3%.q

Existing home sales rise in 2020 to highest in 14 years

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER The median sales prices Lawrence Yun chief econ-
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sales was $309,800 in December, omist for the Realtors.
of existing homes rose 0.7% up 12.9% from a year ago. "As Covid-19 levels drop
in December, pushing the The big jump in prices re- due to vaccinations and
entirety of 2020 to a pace flected strong demand as warmer weather, expect
not seen in 14 years and Americans locked down by more Americans to put
providing one of the few the pandemic and forced their houses on the market,"
bright spots for a U.S. econ- to work from home are Robert Frick, corporate
omy mired in a global pan- seeking to move to larger economist at Navy Federal
demic. homes. Sales have been Credit Union, predicted.
Rising sales in the final boosted by record-low The inventory of unsold
month of the year lifted mortgage rates. homes fell to an all-time
activity to a seasonally ad- Economists predicted those low of a 1.9-months supply,
justed annual rate of 6.76 trends would continue this down from 2.3 months in
million units in December, year, though mortgage November and 3 months a
the National Association of rates may rise slightly from year ago. Homes typically A "sale pending" sign is posted on.a home in Westfield, Ind., Fri-
Realtors reported Friday. record lows if the economy remained on the market day, Sept. 25, 2020. Sales of new homes remained steady in Oc-
For all of 2020, sales rose to improves as expected as for 21 days in December, tober at a seasonally adjusted rate of 999,000 units.
6.48 million, the highest lev- vaccines become more down from 41 days that Associated Press
el since 2006 at the height widely available. a home would be on the
of the housing boom. That "Expect economic condi- market before selling in De- to the strong demand but single-family homes rose
represented a 5.6% gain tions to improve with addi- cember 2019. still face supply constraints 0.7% to a rate of 6.03 mil-
from the 5.34 million previ- tional stimulus forthcoming Economists said that home such as a lack of available lion while sales of condo-
ously owned homes sold in and vaccine distribution builders have boosted building lots. miniums were up 1.4% to
2019. already underway," said construction in response For December, sales of 730,000.q