This Weekly Financial Markets Update reviews the top market headlines: U.S. Stocks Rebound in January, Commodities Start the Year Strong, Existing Home Sales Hit Nine-Month High
  • The S&P 500 Index closed at a record high of 6,118.71 on Thursday
  • The Bloomberg Commodity Index has risen 4.7% in January
  • November existing home sales rose 9.3% from a year earlier

Top Three Market Headlines

U.S. Stocks Rebound in January: U.S. stocks are off to a fast start in 2025. The bellwether S&P 500 Index closed at a new record high of 6,118.71 last Thursday and was up 3.8% in January through the end of the week on a total return basis. The latest advance comes after stocks faltered in December, when the S&P 500 lost 2.4% amid rising bond market yields. The rebound in January has been broad-based, as eight out of ten economic sectors have gained more than 3% thus far in 2025, and other major indices have also posted solid year-to-date gains, including the S&P 500 Equal-Weighted index (+4.0%), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+4.5%), and the NASDAQ Composite index (+3.4%).

Commodities Start the Year Strong: Commodities are also off to a strong start in 2025, with the Bloomberg Commodity Index posting a gain of almost 5% from the start of the year through the end of last week. Futures prices for several of the commodity index's components have seen healthy gains year-to-date, including West Texas Intermediate Crude oil (+4.0%), natural gas (+10.8%), gold (5.2%), and copper (+5.9%). Gold futures nearly hit a new all-time last week, climbing to $2,778 per troy ounce, just shy of the record price of $2,800 per ounce set in late October 2024.

Existing Home Sales Hit Nine-Month High: Sales of existing homes in the U.S. rose by 2.2% in December from the prior month to reach a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.24 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. This was the highest reading since February 2024 and represented a 9.3% increase over the pace of sales in December of last year. Despite the improved activity in December, however, home sales for the full calendar year 2024 ended up slightly below 2023, dropping to a new 28-year low as higher mortgage rates hampered sales activity over the course of the year.

As of January 24, 2025 Week Quarter-To-Date Year-To-Date One-Year
MSCI All Country World 2.08% 3.81% 3.81% 21.24%
S&P 500 1.76% 3.81% 3.81% 27.06%
Russell 2000 1.40% 3.51% 3.51% 19.25%
MSCI EAFE 3.17% 4.42% 4.42% 9.29%
MSCI Emerging Markets 1.87% 1.47% 1.47% 13.63%
FTSE NAREIT Equity 1.60% 1.57% 1.57% 14.83%
Bloomberg Commodity -0.17% 5.02% 5.02% 10.43%
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate 0.11% 0.09% 0.09% 2.98%

Nat'l Assoc. of Realtors, 1/24/2025, WSJ 1/24/2025, MarketWatch 1/24/2025, Reuters 1/23/2025, FactSet. Data from Morningstar Direct. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. Investment advisory, named and independent fiduciary services are offered through Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors, LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Adviser. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors, LLC does not express an investment opinion regarding any specific commodity, sector or individual security. Unless otherwise expressly noted, the contents of this communication do not constitute securities or investment advice, nor should this communication be construed as an opinion regarding the appropriateness of any investment. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors, LLC is a single-member, limited-liability company, with Gallagher Benefit Services, Inc. as its single member. Neither Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors, LLC nor their affiliates provide accounting, legal or tax advice. The information provided cannot take into account all the various factors that may affect your particular situation, therefore you should consult your Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors consultant before acting upon any information or recommendation contained herein to discuss the suitability of the information/recommendation for your specific situation.